NUI Galway Students’ Union is demanding an the Student Contribution Fee. The fee is €3,000 in the Republic of Ireland - the highest undergraduate fees in the EU.
At a socially distanced “Education for All” protest outside Leinster House this week student unions from across the state, including the NUIG SU, called on the Government to remove the fee.
The unions argue that the fee is exorbitant when compared to simiar fees in France (€170 ) and Spain (€750 ), and that the cost is “a huge barrier to education for students and their families”. Funding of public higher education Institutions has dropped dramatically in recent times.
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“We need a publicly funded system, not a student funded system,” said NUIG SU president Pádraic Toomey [pictured above]. “Our students and their families are stretched to breaking point trying to pay the highest fees in the EU.”
Emma Sweeney, the NUIG SU vice-president and education officer, said students cannot afford the €3,000 a year fee. “Many rely on part time jobs and the assistance of their families to foot the bill of pursuing an education,” she said. “The current pandemic means students have lost these part time jobs and the news that the Government will be removing PUP payments for students in September is another unacceptable
The NUIG SU is calling on students, and their families, to contact their TDs to lobby for the removal of the fees.
