Shit

I got a letter from the Irish Grant Authority this morning (well, I didn't, my father did, but for the purpose of argument...) and it contained news that very quickly eclipsed every other issue I currently have or have had.

The authority said that they were not awarding me a grant for this programme of study. They said it was because I already had a degree in Engineering. I very quickly e-mailed them and told them that I did not actually finish the degree (I dropped out in third year) and as a result I came under the heading of a 'second-chance student', i.e. five years have passed since I was last in college, and I can now start again with a clean slate because I didn't complete the first course.

It's an error on their part from where I'm standing, but now I'm nervous. What if, for some reason, they ultimately decide that I'm not going to get it? I would be SCREWED. For those of you who don't know, this is worth about 3000 euros a year, i.e. 12,000 euros in total for the four years of the course. If I don't get it, I'll have to work a whole load of extra hours in some part-time job to pay my way (thus putting paid to any interests I might feel like pursuing while I'm here) or else get a huge loan (most unlikely, as the bank were reluctant enough to part with money this year for the few essentials I needed). Alternating between constant study and a shit part-time job would be the worst possible way of doing this.

I had a discussion with one of my flatmates recently about the costs of college (she's Canadian) and she seems pretty reconciled to the fact that by the time she finishes her course (also Pharmacy, she already has a biology degree behind her) her parents will have spent about half a million in total on her education. The whole thing about sky-high education costs is nuts. If I was facing the tuition fees that most Americans/Canadians face, I simply wouldn't proceed to third level. It wouldn't mean that much to me.

It got me thinking about how whether the general public is entitled to a free third-level education. The cost of it has to be paid in some way, and some economists compare the education of students to that of a consumer buying a service. Why should they not pay for it?

Well, here is another way of looking at it: At last check, and I'm talking about the Irish government here, revenue from taxes was not being spent in a way that yielded tangible benefits for even a substantial minority. Sweeping generalisation there, I think you'll agree, but one such example that springs to mind is the health service. These days when I see a shot of the inside of the Mater (hospital, Dublin) on television, it looks no different to an ad-hoc clinic quickly thrown together to deal with casualties in the middle of a war zone in a developing country, and the finance minister at the time (who has since been shipped out to the EU commission) has gone on record and said that the service was so inefficient he refused to put money into it until it was reformed. Well, that's alright then. That leaves a whole lot of money unspent on one of our most important but also most financially demanding services. Anyone got any ideas about how we can spend this money instead?

Paying to help people and institutions realised their full potential would be a start. By that I mean free fees. Institutions need money to continue to thrive, and the main way they do this is by charging for their services. So far, agreed. How should they get it? Well, if the government isn't spending in any noticeable way for our benefit, then why not let them pay?

Well, they are, for now, so that's fine. But they have made moves in the past to try and abolish this, and if they attempt to do so again on the pretext that the state coffers can't accommodate it, you would be well justified in asking

'Well...eh... where has all our money gone then?'

Because it certainly doesn't seem to have been spent on anything else. Interestingly, fees were not universally paid for by the Irish government at a time when income tax was at it's very highest (70's and 80's) in Ireland. I wonder where that money went? Well, Mr. Charlie Haughey, you detestable, rapacious crook? I'm waiting for an answer....

Sarcasm aside (I'm not genuinely suggesting that the government prioritise free education over a decent public health service, though the latter should closely follow the former), it makes sense that the government help their citizens realise their full potential. Hands up the authority figure who wants a nation full of frustrated, unchallenged underachievers? The cost of educating them can always be claimed back through the extra tax collected on their enhanced earnings over their lifetime, and they'll put more back into the economy in the long run anyway.

This doesn't really address the situation in other countries though. For a start, I know that American universities (especially the top ones) charge a small fortune on a year-by-year basis, the standard reason trotted out for this being the one of the economist above. One small problem: The consumer/service analogy breaks down here, as we are talking about people, and something that will not so much enhance their life, as define it (yes, yes, I know your job isn't everything, but you spend most of your waking life doing it, so all things considered, it pretty much defines a substantial part of your existence). Yet, any American I know just shrugs when it comes to this subject, as if to say, well, that's the way it is. Maybe it's just my socialist streak coming out again.

One other thing I have to wonder aloud about: If universities and other institutes of higher education are being paid in the way that they always were, why, now more than ever before, are they getting into bed with big business for the sake of sponsorship? This wasn't always the case, but now it looks like they're trying to have their cake and eat it. And also, why are almost 7o% of places on some university degree courses, such as Medicine, being set aside for foreign students, thus driving the required points for Irish students sky-high. Is it because they pay, in one year, roughly twice as much as an Irish student does for the entire degree?

Lastly, I'll readily admit that the sight of a group of overprivileged, self-centred, pretentiously accented shits protesting outside the Dáil would induce the most liberal leftie to vote for charging them to the hilt, but there are those of us out there, believe it or not, who would attract more sympathy. Don't forget that.

Anyway, here's hoping I get my grant sorted.

Really hoping.