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STUDENTS AT TRINITY College are protesting plans to implement a fee of €450 for supplementary exams.
They have blocked the front arch at the main entrance to the university and the entrance to the Book of Kells.
On 23 January, Vice-Provost Chris Morash initially proposed supplemental exam fees to Trinity’s Students’ Union (TCDSU) at a cost of €200 per exam, with a cap of €1,000.
Following this, the union proposed the motion to the Student Council, and students were polled. Out of a valid poll of 3,504 students, 82% voted against the implementation of the fees.
Students can take supplementary exams if they were close to passing a subject or if they meet the criteria for special consideration due to unexpected circumstances impacting on their performance during the first exam.
A spokesperson for Trinity College said the change will result in students collectively paying €200,000 per year less to the university for repeating exams, as students who fail the repeats will only have to pay for individual modules that have not been passed rather than for the entire year, which is currently the case.
‘Completely unaffordable’
In a statement, students said the lack of fees for this type of exam was “the only respite in an otherwise completely unaffordable education”.
“Despite this, the college board have decided to ignore the voice of the students, and implement supplemental fees at a flat rate of €450. Trinity’s decision to introduce supplemental exam fees is evidence of their continuing disregard for students, their opinions, and their welfare.”
Citing the cost of accommodation in Dublin and increases in fees for all international and postgraduate students in recent years, the statement said: “Enough is enough.”
Students said the cost of student accommodation has “risen starkly in the past number of years, beyond the means of students”.
Noting that living on-campus can cost up to €240 per week, the statement said some students have been “evicted less than halfway through exam season, unless they can pay the extortionately higher daily and weekly rates to stay past the eviction date”.
The students say they have the following demands:
“We will escalate our protests until our demands are met,” the statement said.
A spokesperson for TCD said the Board of Trinity decided the new arrangement was fair “as it constituted a reduced and more even distribution of cost among the student body.”
“It also brings the University in line with other universities, which have charged for supplemental assessments for many years,” the spokesperson said.
Students on the Trinity Access Programme or the Higher Education Access Route will be exempt from the new charges, and the university is making a fund available to deal with cases of financial hardship which may arise as a result of the decision.
“Ultimately, this realignment of charges was made to spread the cost of repeating and reassessment more evenly, and was done in the interests of fairness,” the spokesperson said.
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This is a loophole that will never be filled in otherwise Lowry, Ahern and the extended Haughy family would be doing 10-15 for fraud.
@Trevor Hayden: Well the Gardai can investigate. It’s just that exTDs arent beholden to the watchdog. Fraud is fraud and can be investigated upon leaving office, regardless of the Journal or RTE say.
@Good Early: I’m sure Maurice McCabe would say different or could tell us a story or two about how politicians are treated by An Garda Siochana.
“Id imagine the line” Do you know who I am? ” has been rattled of a few times or” I’m close personal friends with Frances Fitzgerald ” in order to sweep their discrepancies under the carpet.
” You’ll be signing on in your local dole office on Monday ” I’ve had a few run ins with various politicians, you get used to their spiel.
@Trevor Hayden: haven’t mccabes allegations been found false
@Shawn O’Ceallaghan: Yes they have, he’s been set up. Procing you could not trust the authorities to take an issue regarding a politician seriously.
The untouchables!
We need a major clean out in the Dáil
@Genius 80s+: the electorate can do that with pen in the election booth, but the sword does sound more appealing
@Genius 80s+: with petrol and a rag
If they can hide their expenses paid by public money, anyone expecting them to fix this issue and bring meaningful accountability is living on another planet.
Useful and well orchestrate loop hole by the white collar criminals.
Our politics needs total reform. Our politicians are nothing more than conmen in suits.
How convenient
FFG will be mad to fix this ;-)
So how does this loophole explain why Heather Humphreys was never sanctioned over the outrageous John McNulty Seanad seat scandal, something Enda Kenny admitted happened during a live TV debate during the 2016 election. Or why Denis Naughten has avoided any responsibly for breaking ethics laws by passing on privileged information to an INM lobbyist, Eoghan Ó Neachtain. Who then passed it on to a FG financial donor and owner of Ireland media.
Our the Standards in Public Office will wasted time sanction a independent TD over his shirt colour and hipster dress style. The register of member interests is a joke with every few councillors even filling one in and those in the dail and seanad hiding their interests in wife/partners or children’s names.
Don’t blame a loophole for the state of Irish politics as no politician is accountable judging by the fact that Michael Lowry in back in government after topping the poll again. Even our justice system after a jury found him guilty decided that he had suffered enough. Don’t see the DPP appealing the leniency for fraud.
There is no standards, there are no ethics because no government would last three months. Its a cesspit built by haughty, filled by bertie and kept going by both Enda Kenny and Leo. Power corrupts and it has cost lives in our health service and undermined our constitution. we are all victims but too self involved in our own self interest to do anything about it.
@leartius: we live in a first world banana republic, its a joke and we vote for it every election they are laughing at us…..pure mugs we are.
Fix it
Anyone know of any politicians who have a daughter who would be interested in getting married to my son. He needs a house because he has been turned down for a morgtage again. Was told to rent & save for a yr or so. Then come back. He has saved the deposit but getting nowhere with the banks regarding the morgtage. So I think a politician’s daughter or niece, some relation will do as his wife until he gets his morgtage sorted out.
@bings: All the best…and hope things work out regarding mortgage
Its called covering your arse, what else would you expect from these crooks?
Mc Mafia wouldn’t of been so clever to have this covering there shenanigans !
Read about some of our TD being millionaires,The likes of Kenny Noonan and Howlin were top of the list.
With Kenny worth something around the 4 million Mark,Imagine if these buckos stayed on as teachers there is no way they would be millionaires.
Loose language… not all members of our Seanad are politicians.
How convenient but then again we let this happen all the time im sad to say..
The standards in public office will never improve with the current shower of gombeen politicians in there. Saw on Wikipedia the other day, Charlie Flanagan’s father, Oliver Flanagan, described as ” one of the cutest of cute hoors in the history of the dail”. I’d say the dail is full of idiots with no ability but trying their best to be “cute hoors”!
how many have off shore nest eggs
have your say