Neoliberalism & the restructuring of Education

Alan Morkan
Thu, 03 Nov 2011 11:30:38 +0000
Basic Anarchism, Basic socialism, FEE, Student protest, Education, International, Newspaper, Analysis

In mid-August, Labour Minister for Education Ruairi Quinn announced both further increases to the “registration fee”, which currently stands at €2000, and the return of tuition fees, which will be payable at point-of-entry, for third level education. Coupled with the massive cuts already to the grants system, this will make it prohibitively expensive for many students to enter and complete third level education, and impose a substantial financial burden on those that do. The implications of this will be further falls in the standard of living of ordinary families and increased indebtedness for young people as they begin their adult lives. For many prospective mature students, their hopes of getting back to education will be ruined.