Grant changes mean end of line for Birr student
'Martina Kane, Veterinary Nurse' sounds good, but as a result of changes to student grant criteria it's not to be.
Last year the Crinkle mother-of-one, who is living in Birr, qualified for the higher non-adjacent rate of grant as she lived more than the necessary 24 kilometres away from her place of study - Athlone Institute of Technology. This year changed criteria says she must live more than 45 kilometres away from her place of study to qualify for the same grant, a financial hit that means she can't afford to continue. Martina lives approximately 40km away from the institute.
"It was my seven year old son Samuel who inspired me to study," Martina told the Offaly Independent this week. "I wanted to be a role model for him. I wanted him to grow up and think 'if my mum can go to college I can too'. I wanted him to think he can be anything he wants to be. I could finally look to the future and have security for us. I was hoping I would have a well paid job when he grew up and I could put him through college. That's not looking likely now, unless I win the lotto."
Martina began her two year Bachelor of Science in Veterinary Nursing last September, before grant changes were announced in last year's budget.
"It was fabulous, everything I've dreamed of," she said. Thanks to her €700 a month grant single mother Martina said she could manage to go to college, have her son minded while she was away, buy college books and keep them in food.
This year, however, she says there's no way she can afford to continue with the decreased grant aid. "I'm just getting by day to day on the money I have," she said. "There's nothing extra. Unless the government do a u-turn that'll be the end of it after all these years."
Martina, who worked part-time in a filling station deli before going back to third level education, is now pleading with the government to rethink the grant cuts.
"Think of the future, think of the economy," she says. "We could be doing all sorts of things in a few years. It's short gain profit for them, but it's very short-sighted for the future. I'll still be collecting social payments because I won't be able to go out to work. I could have played my part in the economy."
Students entitled to the largest grant payments, which are based on household income, have seen the full grant of €6,100 cut to €2,445 because of the new boundary changes. In Offaly alone, according to Birr councillor Tony McLoughlin, over 60 people have lost their grant this year, with the majority of students from South Offaly being affected. He warned this week the changes that will see students dropping out of college for financial reasons will not only have a negative effect on the students, but also on the colleges they leave as their student numbers decline. He suggested a system of tiered grants, with increasing grant payments being awarded as the distance between a student's place of study and their home increases. "It's not fair to bring it up 20km," he said.
The High Court has recently granted the national union of third level students permission to challenge the changes, which for Martina is a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel.
"I just have to be optimistic and hope something will turn up," she said.
Post a Comment