FIGHTING ‘UNFAIR’ GRANT SYSTEM

KERRY is at the forefront in the battle for change to the SUSI student-grant system – a system many feel puts students with disabilities at a huge disadvantage.

Ballymac’s Clodagh Mangan (22) lives with Cerebral Palsy and is a wheelchair user. She is a second-year Social Care student at IT Tralee and receives a SUSI grant, worth thousands to many students nationwide each year.

However, she explained to The Kerryman that she must complete 60 credits a year to be seen as a full-time student, a requirement for the crucial grant – despite facing enormous challenges that most students don’t need to consider.

“The main issues I face are the long hours and getting from lecture hall to lecture hall” Ms Mangan told The Kerryman.

“My day starts by getting ready at 7.30am, and since I started my course I’ve had days where I’m still in college at 6pm, getting home at around 6.30pm. It can be very challenging sitting in the [wheel]chair for that length of time.

“I receive assistance from a Bluebird carer, who helps me with my personal needs.

“It’s important for me as well to be seen as a full-time student. So many students would benefit from being able to complete our courses over a longer timeframe, a more comfortable timeframe, without losing our full-time status and the SUSI grant.”

Senior Lecturer in Public and Social Policy Dr Patrick McGarty said targets in the National Access Plan are not being met as wheelchair-using students and students with visual and hearing impairments are being put at a major disadvantage by the current system. He said this deters many such students from third-level education.

The issue was highlighted to political figures such as Kerry’s TDs and Minister of State for Disability Issues Finian McGrath. This has included visits to the corridors of power in Dublin, and the response, they say, has been largely positive.

The Department of Education and Skills, however, told John Brassil TD (Fianna Fáil) that: “SUSI cannot extend funding past the normal duration of the course, unless the applicant is repeating the same year of a course under exceptional circumstances.”

“These students are so resilient, and I admire them so much,” Dr McGarty told The Kerryman.

“Minister [Finian] McGrath sees this as a priority within months, not years, and we hope we have applied enough pressure to make the powers that be think twice.

“For the Higher Education Authority and the Department of Education, this is a small piece of the jigsaw, relatively cost-neutral.

“We’ve so much to gain as a nation in ensuring increased participation and harnessing their unique talents.”

22-year-old IT Tralee student Clodagh Mangan.