Students forced out of college due to delays in student grants - Troy

No money left in Hardship Fund at AIT 

Students at Athlone Institute of Technology (AIT) have been forced to withdraw from college because of delays in access to student grants, according to Longford Westmeath Fianna Fáil TD Robert Troy.

Deputy Troy was speaking as the Union of Students in Ireland (USI) steps up its campaign

 of protest against cuts to student grants, increases in student fees and the on-going crisis in the SUSI system. 

“Last week I attended a meeting organised by the Students’ Union at AIT and I was horrified at some of the stories,” said Deputy Troy.

“Fr Shay Casey who is the Welfare Officer at Athlone Institute of Technology (AIT), told me there is no money left in the college’s hardship fund and that he knows of students whose only food on a weekly basis is a bag of pasta and tomato ketchup as they wait for their grants. This is incredible and a serious indictment of Minister Quinn and his Government.

“A student also contacted my constituency office to tell me he was withdrawing from college because he did not have access to college facilities and he could not pay his rent. Students are dropping out of college on a daily basis and the Government continues to bury its head in the sand.”

Students in AIT were joined by protestors in NUI Galway and GMIT last week as part of a nationwide campaign by the Union of Students in Ireland, which has already seen hundreds of students attend public meetings in Westmeath and across the country to voice their anger about the planned increase in student fees, the cuts to grants and the on-going crisis in the new SUSI system.

“Students in Westmeath and Longford have been treated appallingly by Labour and Fine Gael since they got into power. Many young people and their parents across the region voted for these parties based on their solemn pledge not to increase student fees. It quickly became clear though that Labour and Fine Gael made these promises with the sole purpose of getting into power, and had no problem abandoning them once they achieved it.

“The palpable anger among students at Athlone Institute of Technology (AIT) is completely justified. Not only do they feel betrayed by the Education Minister Ruairí Quinn and his colleagues, many of them are seriously worried about how they will now afford to stay in college. Far from reducing the cost of college as he promised he would do, Minister Quinn actually plans to increase the student registration fee by at least €1,000 within his term in office. He has also slashed grants, and he continues to preside over a deeply flawed grant processing system that has left thousands of students across the Midlands still waiting for their grants.

"In the Dáil last week, Fine Gael and Labour TDs in this region failed to stand up for the students and families who elected them. They refused to support a Fianna Fáil motion opposing further increases in student fees and cuts to frontline education services. I am calling on them to listen to the students who are protesting here today and to reconsider their damaging increases in the cost of college,” said Deputy Troy.

FIANNA FÁIL LAUNCHES NATIONAL POLICY ON YOUTH MENTAL HEALTH

Posted on 31/10/12 by Averil Power

Fianna Fáil has launched targeted proposals to promote positive youth mental health within the education system and reduce the alarmingly high rate of suicide among young people.  

The author of the document, Fianna Fáil Seanad Spokesperson on Education Averil Power, has said that mental health is the most critical health issue facing young people in Ireland.

“Up to one in four students at any given time experience psychological problems. For some the cause may be a psychiatric illness, while for others it is bullying, problems at home or difficulties coming to terms with their body image or sexual orientation. The fact that Ireland’s youth suicide rate is now the fourth highest in Europe clearly shows that we are not doing nearly enough to help our young people to cope with such problems,” said Senator Power.

 “The proposals launched today are designed to greatly enhance the role that our education system plays in promoting positive mental health and equipping young people with coping skills. They also aim to ensure the availability of community-based youth mental health support services in all counties so that young people requiring specialist help can access this directly or through their schools.”

The proposals include:

• A focus on positive mental health promotion at all levels of the education system, from pre-school to third level;
• The implementation of effective strategies to tackle bullying in all its forms, including cyber bullying, with a major emphasis on peer support and students being encouraged to stand up for classmates who are being bullied;
• All schools and colleges to have their own mental health promotion plans, with students, staff and parents being involved in the development and implementation of these plans;
• Each school to put in place a care team to oversee the implementation of its mental health initiatives, to be made up of staff, students, parents and appropriate external bodies such as professional mental health workers and local youth services;
• A national ‘Positive Schools’ initiative, similar to the ‘Green Schools’ programme with schools being awarded ‘Positive Schools Flags’ for promoting mental health and having effective strategies to tackle bullying and support students experiencing mental health difficulties;
• A reversal of the Government’s decision to abolish dedicated guidance counsellor allocations for schools, which has dramatically reduced access for young people to counselling supports;
• Headstrong to be funded to establish a Jigsaw centre in every county so that young people can get access to appropriate professional support in a welcoming environment;
• A greater emphasis in schools on the importance of physical exercise and diet to students’ mental well-being and a focus on ensuring that all students, particularly those in exam years, get the recommended number of hours of PE classes;

The proposals have been developed following an extensive consultation process, including a Fianna Fáil national conference on youth mental health last June, subsequent meetings with mental health organisations, teachers and students and a public meeting in Sutton, Dublin last month.

Huge Delays with Student Grants!

 Posted 31st October 2012 by Cllr Frankie Keena

This week Cllr. Frankie Keena said that he has deep concerns about the alarming rate of third level grant applications that have been refused so far this year and the massive backlog in unprocessed applications.

This was confirmed last week by Minister for Education Ruairí Quinn by answering a parliamentary question in the Dail when he stated that 72% of the grant applications processed so far this year have been refused. In addition to this, 78% of applicants are still waiting to hear back from the Department of Education. It is nearly November and there are still approximately 52,000 students waiting to hear if they will receive a grant, he said.

It seems unbelievable to me that the Department are turning away nearly 3 out of every 4 applicants that are processed so far and it is becoming clear that the new SUSI system is riddled with problems. This system was designed to speed up the administering of third-level grants, but it is not delivering, he stated.

 I am receiving a lot of representations from parents who are anxious to know if they will get a grant for their sons or daughters , it is wrong that they are being left in limbo two months into the college year, declared Cllr. Keena.

 I am now calling on the Education Minister to urgently explain these massive delays and alarming rate of rejections. When the SUSI system was launched, Minister Quinn said the process would be ‘quick and easy’ and that it would end the possibility of students facing ‘undue hardship as a result of delays’. Instead we have a situation where tens of thousands of students across the country are still in the dark about their grant applications, he concluded.