Fees are off the table. It’s the end of the fees debate.…… ‘ Woo!’… We won! We’ve defeated fees! We’re free! If you are to believe this from the established sources and the walls around Trinity who could blame you for thinking that the all-conquering Students’ Union has triumphed over the political elite? But have we really defeated fees? For anyone who supports a free and fair educational system in Ireland, we certainly have not.
The fact of the matter is they still exist; we pay fees and we will continue to pay increased fees i.e. ‘registration’ charges as long as Fianna Fail policies are pursued with the green party super-soaker firmly held to their head. The ‘registration fee’ is being used by the government as a stealth tactic to increase fees by disguising it as a capitation charge. In the last 10 years the ‘registration’ fee has increased by 1100 euro and if the intentions of the government in the next budget go ahead we will be paying up to 2500 euro. In comparison with 3rd level fees in Europe, Irish students pay the highest. In German colleges a semester costs 500 euro and in eastern German colleges it is free!
For the last 18 months the USI along with political groups and thousands of individual students around Ireland have worked hard to achieve this major stepping stone in the pursuit of free education. I do not take anything away from the SU and the arduous work they have put in, but claiming victory against fees and saying ‘no third level fees’ is simply wrong, and did we really need posters to figure that one out?
An increase in ‘registration’ fees will mean fewer people from less well off families will be able to attend college and thus will mean lengthening dole queues. The economic sense of the government really has to be questioned if they think that increasing fees will save the state (toxic bank) money when they will be paying it straight out in the form of social welfare.
So Qui Bono? Who are the real winners from the victory? Well apart from the SU managing to justify their existence, richer families are still benefiting more than poorer families and middle income families are losing out from a faulty grant system; it is actually rather astounding that since the abolition of fees was introduced in 1995 we have seen a 30% rise in 3rd level participation from lower income families when we still have an apartheid primary and secondary school system i.e. the two tier private and state system.
This just shows what potential there is for an equitable education system if reform could take place. At the moment a mere 1/14th of the money that we trinity students and the government pay in fees goes directly into our tuition and coupled with increased staff salaries in 2008 of around 8 million euro.
If the goal is to strive for an educational system that gives equal opportunity to all, then we need to strive for FREE education for all. The best way to do this is to tax the super wealthy and MNC’s who benefit hugely from Ireland’s tax laws and this can be used to provide a just 3rd level education system which would save the state millions in the future.
So now that more people are believing that the fee issue is off the agenda and students whose families are well able to absorb the increase are apathetic to the cause, is a strong unified group of students now possible to stand up for a just education system?
