Irish Examiner view: Education woes will affect us all

Student protests

Students Jennifer Clifford, Grainne Stembridge, Orlaith O'Byrne and Maeve Bartley at the USI student walkout protest at University College  Cork.

October is traditionally the time of year when third-level students flood back to colleges and universities all over the country — ready for study and socialising, growing up and getting on.

The student experience is often seen as a time when those in their late teens and early 20s have yet to come to grips with full adult responsibilities, but recent news suggests a far more fraught experience now than in past decades.