Are you a business owner in Athlone? Are you a parent of a child attending college, or do you want to see your children get the best possible opportunity at third level in the next few years? If the answer is yes, then this is one meeting that you cannot afford to miss. The Union of Students in Ireland, in tandem with the local Students Union in AIT, would like to extend an invitation to you to attend a ‘Fed up? Stand up!’ meeting in the Radisson Hotel on Monday November 12 at 8pm.
Speaking about the meeting, president of the AIT Students Union, John Madden, said that students have been taking increased hits in the annual Budgets.
“From several years of increased fees, reduced grants, and reduced Back-To-Education payments, it is no longer a student problem. This is now a family problem. As parents struggle to keep their children in third level education, not only are they faced with incremental registration increases but the student grant has been almost minimised to a pittance. This is leading to higher drop-out rates as people just cannot afford to be in third level education any more. In these harsh times this is just not acceptable.
“How will this domino effect affect you, the business owners of Athlone? Over 2,000 students in Athlone Institute of Technology were on student grants last year. These students are also customers that support Athlone’s economy. If these grants are cut again and eventually eradicated completely, Athlone’s economy would take a massive hit.”
All local TDs and representatives have been asked to attend Monday’s meeting.
“TDs will have the opportunity to vote in favour of or against Minister Noonan’s Budget. Let us take this opportunity to show that we will not support them if they do not support us, the stakeholders of Athlone,” added Mr Madden.
