Students will oppose any college fees as O’Keeffe defends plan

STUDENT leaders have promised they will continue to oppose any form of college fees or loans system ahead of an announcement by Education Minister Batt O’Keeffe in the coming months.

The minister said yesterday that he has asked fellow cabinet members to give him their responses within the next month to his various options in relation to introducing some form of student contribution.

Among these is the system he is known to favour, under which students would be expected to pay back most of their college tuition costs after they graduate and begin earning over a certain income.