Third-level fee drop won’t be free

AS THE parent of two third-level students, I’m happy I have less fees to pay on their behalf, a €2,000 saving on my budget this year and next. That should more than cover the expected rise in gas and electricity bills – which are big in a house that has seven people living in it – especially with the €600 Government donation towards those bills too. As the parent of two secondaryschool students, however, I might be inclined to ask why I have to pay for their schoolbooks when primary school books are now going to be free. But that would be churlish and perhaps even selfish on my part, although I can well understand why other parents on smaller incomes are looking askance at the primary school benefit not being available to parents with children at secondary school. The costs at second level can be far higher, especially with some schools insisting on the use of iPads or other tablets, and e-books which cannot be transferred to siblings once they have been used.

Education Minister Norma Foley explained yesterday that they have to start somewhere and that primary level is where the foundations of education are built. Which is true. But the pressure will come in future years to extend this to second level.

Another issue came up with Last Word listeners last night: the addition of transition year means many children are aged 18, or even higher, when they sit their Leaving Cert. But on turning 18, their parents lose the child benefit to which they have been entitled since birth. There is an argument that an extension to the benefit could be made for as long as a child is in full-time second-level education.

Meanwhile, the reduction of the registration fees at third level will be welcomed, particularly by parents and offspring who don’t qualify for the maintenance grants that are so important at a time of incredibly expensive student accommodation for those living away from home. Many will be delighted by the extension, too, of the eligibility criteria.

But the registration fees were brought in for a reason. If universities and colleges can’t depend on fees to cover their costs, they have to get the replacement money for running things from the State. These things don’t happen for free.