College chiefs surprised at lack of fees decision

UNIVERSITY presidents have expressed surprise at the Government decision not to introduce student fees or a graduate loans system they had endorsed as a way of tackling a funding deficit in the third-level education sector.

The move decided in the Revised Programme for Government at the weekend means Education Minister Batt O’Keeffe’s favoured system of a “study now, pay later” model will not be introduced in the lifetime of the current Fianna Fáil-Green Party coalition, although he believes it will have to be considered again in the future.

A similar system had been proposed by the university presidents through their umbrella body, the Irish Universities Association (IUA), earlier this year.

Following a meeting earlier this week, they issued a statement highlighting what they say is a dire need for greater funding for higher education.

The presidents said they were surprised the Government would not proceed with any new scheme of student contribution, given the need to invest in higher education and stimulate economic growth.

“The IUA has stressed the need for a better balance between individual and public contributions in the funding of higher education. This view is based on factors such as the considerable financial gains that accrue to graduates, the need to generate additional resources to widen access to universities, and the international data which shows our system to be under-funded, largely due to its excessive dependence on central government,” they said.

An estimated €500 million a year will be needed for the Government to reach its 2020 target that 72% of the school-leaving population would attend third-level education.

Mr O’Keeffe has said he would ask the Higher Education Strategy Review Group, chaired by econo-mist Colin Hunt, to consider the student contribution options as part of its report due by the end of the year.