The Government doesn’t get it — education is a right, not a privilege

I AM a student of Political Science in the National University of Ireland, Galway.

Lucky for me, I, being currently enrolled in the university, will dodge the bullet of full fees, and will only have to pay an €1,800 registration fee next September to finish my education, (itself an increase of €900 from last year). With every passing day, every champagne speech and every helicopter trip he takes, it’s looking more and more likely that our Education Minister Batt O’Keefe is set to reintroduce full fees to the country.

Full fees means the prospective student will have to pay €15,000 to get enrol in a standard, three-year degree course, (and that's before costs like accommodation, food, clothes, electricity etc are factored into the equation).