College grants a test of patience

MY daughter started third-level college on September 8 last. She applied for a student grant to Cork county council. They passed her details to Cork VEC when she had made her course choice, as they did not cover her course.

We had acknowledgment of her application from Cork VEC early in September. They asked her to fill out a form, detailing her college, course reference and the duration of her course. Only two days ago she got a reply that her application had been successful.

In early December I rang Cork VEC and was told they had not reached her application, but should do so just before Christmas - but definitely afterwards. When pushed for a better indication, I was advised it would probably be after Christmas, but that it would be backdated, so there was no need to worry.

I was very patient and gave them the benefit of the month, but having heard nothing by the end of January I rang them again.

I was advised that someone was dealing with my daughter’s application and we would hear something in the next few days.

Two weeks later we contacted our local public representative. He made enquiries on our behalf and was led to believe we would have a letter within a few days. Two weeks later I contacted him again and he was still pursuing it. Two months have elapsed since I was told someone was dealing with my daughter’s application.

Our income is such that she is entitled to a student grant. She has been in college for over six months now, so you can imagine the strain we were all under. For ourselves I am happy that, at long last, there has been a resolution.

But I have no doubt we were not the only family with this problem. These students apply for grants because they need them to survive in college. If their families were able to support them, they wouldn’t be entitled to such grants. I cannot understand why these grant applications take so long to verify.

I understand there are more than just first-year applicants to be dealt with, but the groundwork has been done for those who are already in the system. Are there not enough staff to deal with the applications?

I do not know how many students applied for grants this year, but my daughter’s reference number falls a good deal short of 1,300. Surely, six months into the college year there must be a reason why they had not dealt with 1,300 new applications.

Bláthnaid Lane Walsh

Beachview Heights

Ballycotton

Co Cork