We may price students out of college

Now the Leaving Cert results and the first round of CAO offers are out and all the teens-turned-adults are trotting off to college, parents are probably beginning to feel the pinch already.

Why? Because of the outrageous money they are now paying to send their children off to college. My question is, is it weird that in the 21st century we are still depending on parents and potential college-goers to pay a hefty price just so the future workers of this country can get a third-level education?

The maximum rate of student contribution for 2013-2014 is €2,500. A year after budget 2013 and that fee will rise to €2,750, and again another year on that will again rise to €3,000.

Taking into account that budget 2013 will also probably attack student grants and other forms of income for parents, eventually very few people will be able to pay for college. We will probably end up like very poor countries where only the rich can get education, while the poor stay at home and, to be honest, that’s completely unfair.

Students should not be having to begin saving at a really early stage just to go to college — that’s putting serious pressure on them early in life. If teenagers are also like me, and many more in my year, they barely know what they are doing tomorrow, never mind what college course they want, what college they might want to attend, what books they will need for the course, and all the other stuff college students must figure out for themselves.

College, in my opinion, should be free, and when you go on in the future either as a doctor, nurse, lawyer, teacher, dentist, welder, electrician or carpenter, you should gradually pay back what you owe for your years spent in college.

Take a look at the UK’s system. It’s not free, but you don’t need to be rich to go. Anyone can go to university, regardless of his or her financial situation.

When you go to university you will be charged £3,200 a year for tuition fees, plus £3,000 and £6,000 a year for accommodation.

However, you don’t need to pay for this out of your own pocket. You will receive a grant and a loan to cover tuition, accommodation and living expenses. The grant doesn’t have to be paid back — ever. The loan is paid back, but only once you are in employment earning over £15,000 a year.

If our education system doesn’t change, eventually we will have a less educated workforce, companies won’t want to invest and we will keep slipping back into recession.