NUS-USI Slams Minister Announcement

The NUS-USI Student Movement in NI this week expressed its disappointment that Stephen Farry, Employment and Learning Minister has announced an under-whelming 700 extra student places for Northern Ireland spread over a 3 year period. This number falls short of what would be required to address the anticipated rising demand for local places and in no way reflects what was agreed in the HE Strategy Report.

Adrianne Peltz, NUS-USI President, states:
“Whilst we acknowledge this announcement represents a move in the right direction, nevertheless, given the number of students that feel they have no option but to stay at home due to rising tuition fee costs, 700 places spread very thinly is just not enough.”

She went on to say:
“If the Minister believes that higher education delivered through further education is such an important aspect of their overall provision, why is he suggesting a meagre 70 places for further education providers, an average of 12 places per college spread over many sites? Our Colleges provide for the more under-represented and disadvantaged groups of students, and need to be expanding places dramatically to continue meeting demand.”