Free College Gone?

sunbeam

Originally posted by sykeirl
Going back to the whole education system, one of the biggest problems economically is the amount of college places that are abandoned. One thing seriously missing from most 2nd level schools is professional career guidance. VEry few undergraduates seem to know much about the nature of their course or their job prospects in it. Its akin to entering a 4 year job contract on the job title alone. I think one way of reducing costs and improving the education system would be to take an approach closer to UCAS, add professional guidance and college application interviews to the mix.

I'd have to agree with you about career guidance but would be less enthusiastic about the prospect of interviews for college places. As imperfect as the current system is, it ensures that where you come from or who your parents are do not *directly* influence whether you get a place. I'd hate for something like the legacy admissions system that many US colleges have to evolve here-where children of alumni get 'special consideration' as it is seen as a good way to reward financial contributors.

Then again I'm biased about this. I was once sneeringly told at a postgrad course interview that I was 'culturally deprived' because of where I come from. This was in spite of having a first class degree and a neutral accent which makes most people guess I come from some part of south Dublin...

ballooba

Originally posted by sykeirl
USI was in the very recent past an ineffective and unprofessional rabble. They spent so much time pursuing wild gooses and making basic mistakes (the boter registration issue) that it was inevitable and understandable that many institutes tried to escape. The fact that they seem to have pulled together at a time of crises is commendable, but does not excuse past mistakes and I would say the whole setup there needs to be professionally reviewed before people will trust them again.

What crisis? USI got a good kick in their sleepy holes to wake them up last year. They got scared because individual SUs wanted to break away from USI so they pulled off several cunning stunts to win back support. Very fortunate that the issue of fees came along at the right time for them. There was obviosly some major ass kissing going on to get the individual SUs back on board.

Annasopra

USI have given up the idea of running around shouting about whats wrong with the system and have started to try and think of a better solution.

What planet are you living on, all USI do is go around shouting about whats wrong with the system

GuanYin

Originally posted by sunbeam
I'd hate for something like the legacy admissions system that many US colleges have to evolve here-where children of alumni get 'special consideration' as it is seen as a good way to reward financial contributors.

When I say an interview system, I mean suitability to the course.
A professional interview board would be able to ensure the candidates understanding and aptitude (both in terms of ability and personality) for the course. Discrimination by interviewers would and should be punished as any other case. This is generally the case in the UK where, despite some flaws, the UCAS system does a good job.

The US system is as flawed and corrupt as can be and would not be a good rolemodel for a revised irish system.

As for postgraduate applications, its an unfortunate truth that these appointments are largely unmonitored although they do, on the whole mean that postgraduate drop out rates are less than undergraduates. There are quite a few dinosaur profs out there who discriminate against colleges, areas, gender, race and degree class. Thankfully they are all quite old and will probably retire soon. I find the younger academics are usually more level headed.

GuanYin

Originally posted by ballooba
What crisis? USI got a good kick in their sleepy holes to wake them up last year. They got scared because individual SUs wanted to break away from USI so they pulled off several cunning stunts to win back support. Very fortunate that the issue of fees came along at the right time for them. There was obviosly some major ass kissing going on to get the individual SUs back on board.

I don't think they won back support. DCU was one of the politically stronger colleges and it left, the south was severely weakened and the UCD referendum was only won due to severe mis-management of the vote yes campaign.

The crisis I refer to is the fees issue. Have no doubts, the reintroduction of fees has done for USI what 911 did for Bush.
The big and worrying question is, when they unions fail to stop the fees introduction (and they will), will USI revert back to the old ways?

antrophy

Last summer the government increased registration fees for students by 69%, this amounted to nothing more than an introduction of fees through the backdoor. It now plans to either introduce fees or student loans by September. Either way, the government plans for free third-level education to be a thing of the past from next September. This will mean thousands of students dropping out of college, poverty conditions for those remaining and thousands of young people being denied access to college. We cannot lie down and accept this attack on education. We have to be willing and able to take serious mass action against fees and demand free education for all.





The CFE has been one of the most formidable opponents of fees and cutbacks in education since the summer. It has organized numerous on-campus demonstrations in UCD making it a place of hostility to visiting government figures. The CFE has blockaded the Minister for Education in college buildings for hours; organized a successful occupations of the N11 motorway, the Departments of Finance, Education and Transport; carried out a successful sit- down protest outside Dail Eireann. All this brought invaluable media and public attention to educational inequality and the danger of fees.

We believe education is a right and not a privilege. We believe in free and equal access for all, regardless of socio-economic status, to primary, secondary and third level education. We recognize that the present education system does not offer this and call on all students to secure your right to a free and accessible education of the highest standard. We must shift focus away from responding to the government's agenda, and force them to respond to ours, an agenda where educational opportunity is not mitigated by your economical and social background. Educational inequality is not something that magically appears in third level but is evident throughout the education system. The points system illustrates this.

Where students with unequal resources and crap school facilities are pitted against those who can afford private tuition and attend exam factories on Leeson Street. Students are forced into a rat race for a limited number of college places because the government are unwilling to adequately fund the colleges.

The Campaign for Free Education is a network set up last summer by students in UCD to fight the reintroduction of fees by getting students involved in collective mass action against the government. It is now essential that students, both in secondary and third level form an network to mobilise opposition against this government. The years of complacency, respectability and negotiation in the student movement must end, and action must begin.

We need to show the government how serious we are on this issue, through a campaign to mobilise students and involve students in actions such as blockades, mass occupations, school and college strikes and more, which directly affect and upset the government. If you want to get involved or set up a group in your school or college contact us and act!

[url]Http://www.freeedcuation.cjb.net[/url]

antrophy

Last summer the government increased registration fees for students by 69%, this amounted to nothing more than an introduction of fees through the backdoor. It now plans to either introduce fees or student loans by September. Either way, the government plans for free third-level education to be a thing of the past from next September. This will mean thousands of students dropping out of college, poverty conditions for those remaining and thousands of young people being denied access to college. We cannot lie down and accept this attack on education. We have to be willing and able to take serious mass action against fees and demand free education for all.

The CFE has been one of the most formidable opponents of fees and cutbacks in education since the summer. It has organized numerous on-campus demonstrations in UCD making it a place of hostility to visiting government figures. The CFE has blockaded the Minister for Education in college buildings for hours; organized a successful occupations of the N11 motorway, the Departments of Finance, Education and Transport; carried out a successful sit- down protest outside Dail Eireann. All this brought invaluable media and public attention to educational inequality and the danger of fees.

We believe education is a right and not a privilege. We believe in free and equal access for all, regardless of socio-economic status, to primary, secondary and third level education. We recognize that the present education system does not offer this and call on all students to secure your right to a free and accessible education of the highest standard. We must shift focus away from responding to the government's agenda, and force them to respond to ours, an agenda where educational opportunity is not mitigated by your economical and social background. Educational inequality is not something that magically appears in third level but is evident throughout the education system. The points system illustrates this.

Where students with unequal resources and crap school facilities are pitted against those who can afford private tuition and attend exam factories on Leeson Street. Students are forced into a rat race for a limited number of college places because the government are unwilling to adequately fund the colleges.

The Campaign for Free Education is a network set up last summer by students in UCD to fight the reintroduction of fees by getting students involved in collective mass action against the government. It is now essential that students, both in secondary and third level form an network to mobilise opposition against this government. The years of complacency, respectability and negotiation in the student movement must end, and action must begin.

We need to show the government how serious we are on this issue, through a campaign to mobilise students and involve students in actions such as blockades, mass occupations, school and college strikes and more, which directly affect and upset the government. If you want to get involved or set up a group in your school or college contact us and act!

[url]Http://www.freeedcuation.cjb.net[/url]

l3rian

I am totally against college fees, and will protest against their reintroduction

Éomer of Rohan

The Campaign for Free Education is a network set up last summer by students in UCD to fight the reintroduction of fees by getting students involved in collective mass action against the government. It is now essential that students, both in secondary and third level form an network to mobilise opposition against this government. The years of complacency, respectability and negotiation in the student movement must end, and action must begin.

Hear! Hear! I actually advise you to contact the Socialist Party (NOT Socialist Workers Party) to really see how to get involved since we have played a strong part in various campaigns in that region.

irishguy

Sorry if this was posted already, I didn’t have time to read all the posts. It is pure madness re-introducing 3rd level fees. It is going to reduce the number of people going to collage and starve the economy of skilled workers [who were the basis of the boom in Ireland] Also I can see why people don’t want to pay for my 3rd level education, but I don’t drive so why should I pay for new roads been built [btw I don’t mind paying for roads to be built its just an example] I also live in the city why should I subsidise rural people [who’s postal delivers cost 4 times more and water cost 3 times more [if they get it from the state]]also I have never been in Co Donegal so why should I pay for anything in that county. Actually why should I pay for anything in the country that I don’t use? Should we charge a very low tax rate maybe 5% then you pay for what ever you use after that, education, health care, emergency services, water etc. If we have alot of highly skilled workers they will attract big business who pay large amounts of tax and buy alot of Irish products and services. And also how many people have you heard with a degree robing shops and old ladys [they prefer to rob the country of millions ]

The Corinthian

I went to college when one had to pay ones own fees and upkeep. If you were from a disadvantaged background (or a farmer) you still got your fees paid for, and there were numerous other maintenance-style grants available.

Enter Niamh Bhreathnach, as a labour minister of education, and free fees, under the reasoning that it would promote third level education amongst the disadvantaged. Many, including some student bodies, such as UCD Students’ Union, disagreed; arguing that lowering the criteria for grants was a better idea, as was improving the environment and quality of education in disadvantaged areas.

A few years later, I had a pint with a former Labour advisor, who admitted to me that it was a vote winner geared towards pleasing the middle classes - “well, if Fianna Fail can look after their voting base, why cant we” as the merry argument given.

Well free fees came in and the poor didn’t take notice. Of course, the middle classes benefited, with all that money that was going to go towards free fees, instead being channelled towards second level private tuition. Thankfully, Bhreathnach did not survive politically and the fees are back after the realization that they were too expensive and achieved nothing outside of making like easier for the bourgeois.

Many of my peers either paid for our own fees and/or maintenance. While it took many of us years to pay off our various loans (and not at any government protected low rate either), most had them paid off within five years (and we’re talking five figures in most cases too).

Education is not only a right, but also a responsibility. Too many forget this when blubbering on about their ‘rights’. I give scant respect for those within Society who are so preoccupied with accumulating rights, when they are purchased with the labour of others.

From each according to another’s abilities, to each according to his wants..?

antrophy

Yeah for an article expanding on the role or lack therefore of the SWP in the student movement against fees, click here!

Or download the full free sheet news Zine its contained in here!

There's a full history of the CFE posted on indymedia here.

Visit the CFE Site and join the discussion list to get involved.

The threat to fees is hanging over our head, it is happening be it fees or what ever form, free education is being consigned to the bin of history, unless we act and throw this governments attacks on education on the rubbish heap of history.

We are very mush isolated in UCD where we have done fantastic work all year, isolation can kill us off, so we need to spread the grass roots movement against fees across the country, get involved and set up action groups in your college. We need to get an network of contacts in place in time for next september.