Irish student forced to pay almost €11,000 in fees

AN Irish teenager has had to pay college fees of almost €11,000 because of Government rules on who pays for third level education.

Arjun Mediratta was born in Sligo 17 years ago but moved back to northern India with his parents when he was five.

He begins a business studies degree course at University of Limerick next week after being offered a place earlier this summer. But Arjun’s uncle Vinod Bajaj expected he would be charged fees applicable to EU citizens, which would only have been around €3,800.

But the rules state that anybody qualifying for this must have lived in the EU for three of the last five years.

“We never wanted to put him through university for free but it is ridiculous an Irish citizen is treated like this,” said Mr Bajaj, a Limerick -based businessman.

His nephew scored an 84% average in the Indian equivalent of the Leaving Certificate this year and just arrived in Ireland last weekend.

The university deliberated on the case for some time but decided earlier this week Arjun would have to pay the full tuition fees for his course. They told Mr Bajaj they are bound by the guidelines on student support set out by the Department of Education.

However, Mr Bajaj, who lobbied Education Minister Noel Dempsey and Taoiseach Bertie Ahern on his nephew’s case, said these guidelines should be open to interpretation by individual colleges.

“These rules could be applied to a student whose parents’ work means they have to live abroad for a few years, and when they come back they are liable for huge fees. It seems to go against the Government’s principle of widening access to the disadvantaged,” said Mr Bajaj.

The University of Limerick did not want to comment on an individual case but said all applications are considered objectively.

“If, in exceptional cases, UL does not apply these criteria this would result in discrimination against other applicants,” a spokesperson said.

The Union of Students in Ireland said it is aware of dozens of similar cases every year. “We want this residency stipulation removed so Irish students can actually avail of the Irish education system without having to pay huge fees,” said USI president Will Priestley.