“So, is this game over for the fees debate? Forgive me my bias, or not, but I find it ironic that he made the admission at the launch of a ‘Barnardos Brigher Futures Centre’. Have a bright future. But don’t be an idiot and dream of going to college. What Batty fails to clarify is what will happen to current third level funding. It’s been well known for years that the sector doesn’t have enough money to maintain standards, let alone compete internationally. On the one hand, bringing back fees (and you’ll forgive me if I don’t think for a second that they’ll bring with it the first fair grants system in the history of the state) is supposedly about generating extra funds for third level. But that presumes the government will maintain current levels of funding, pitiful and all as they are …” (more)
[Sharona’s Shambles, 20 January]