Cork students call for more public funding for higher education

Students at University College Cork (UCC) held a protest today calling on the government to address the need for publicly funded education.

The UCC Students Union, along with the Union Students of Ireland and other Higher Education Institutions across the country, were protesting on Monday morning in light of unchanged contribution fees and a lack of student accommodation.

The UCC SU called on local TDs in Cork to address the need for a publicly funded education system in Ireland.

“Today we stood in protest with the Union Students of Ireland and other Higher Education Institutions across the country, to call upon the government and in particular our TDs in Cork North Central and Cork South Central to address the need for publicly funded education,” explained Jamie Fraser, UCC SU welfare officer.

“Ireland currently has the highest fees in the European Union and with the proliferation of rental prices, a greater than 40 percent decline in higher education funding since 2008 and a stagnation of the SUSI grant since 2012, we are at a critical juncture.

“We call upon local TDs to sign a pledge to meet with us every six to eight weeks to tackle this issue so the students who are homeless, starving and penniless that present to me on a daily basis can see transparent change,” he added.

For every one euro invested into higher education the economy sees a four euro return.

“From a moral perspective as well as an economic one, it is essential our local TDs and An Taoiseach pledge to work with us on this issue.”