University Volume 22 | Issue Three | Tuesday 16th October 2018
ENTS Express UCCExpress.ie
Irish universities launch ‘Save Our Spark’ campaign
to protect Ireland’s third level education system
student in Ireland (€5,000) is just campaign in order to raise awareness
Cailean Coffey, Editor-in-Chief half of the same funding ten years of the crisis and encourage members
O
n Monday 15th October, the seven universities of Ireland (Trinity, UCD, DCU, UCC, NUIG, UL and NUI Maynooth) launched a major campaign aimed at encouraging the public to demand the Government tackles the funding crisis in third level education. The Government's funding per third level
ago, and is only a fraction of the amount paid by other Governments in similar-sized European Countries. Despite a small increase in the Budget 2019, it’s unlikely to address the major gap in funding.
of the public to sign a petition urging local TD’s and Senators to act. This campaign follows two years of inaction from the Government after the publication of the Cassells Report.
Protest Disruption raises Security Questions
Brockhampton Hit the Hot 100
Dr.Who’s Latest Incarnation Reviewed
three possible ways the state could fund the higher-education sector. The options proposed included the abolition of the student contribution and the creation of a primarily statefunded system, the continuation of the current student contribution charge coupled with increased state investment and the introduction of an income-contingent loan system. In two of the three options, state funding would increase to about 80% of the sector. The loan system would increase state funding to 55-60%. The report also outlined the expected cost of each option to the state. It was estimated that a predominantly statefunded system would cost an addition €1.3 billion per year by 2030, the state-funding combined with the student contribution fee would cost €1 billion per year by 2030 and the loan scheme was estimated to cost the state between €1,307 million and €1,1157 million. A series of adverts are set to run on both national and regional radio stations, while also appearing on train and bus services across Dublin, Limerick, Cork and Galway, as well as on the Dart. A video, specially created to highlight the crisis, will also be promoted across sites such as YouTube, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Speaking about the campaign, Jim Miley,
The Cassells Report, an independent Given the lack of state action, the report into higher education funding, Irish Universities Association (IUA) conducted by a group chaired by Peter Continued on page 5 has developed the Save Our Spark Cassells, published in 2016, proposed
Page 3 News
Page 9 Features
Page 19 Byline
Student SPECIAL 14” LARGE CHEESE PIZZA + 3 TOPPINGS
€10
T&C: *UP to 3 toppings. please mention offer when ordering. only valid with student id. not vaild with any other offer. valid for a limited time only and at participating stores.
UCC Men’s Hockey Club Report
Page 37 Sport