“Minister O’Keeffe’s recent statement on the potential re-introduction of third-level fees has sparked a debate. This is to be welcomed. Much of the discussion so far has focused on the impact of fees on the ability of low-income students to enter third-level education. This is certainly an important issue, but ignores several wider problems faced by students from lower-income backgrounds and the absence of current policies to address these. First, participation rates of academically-able students from low-income families would have risen much more in the 1990s were fees the only entry deterrent …” (more)
[Independent, 8 October]