Students prepare for Dublin protest against college loans
Students are taking to the streets of Dublin today, calling for free publicly-funded third level education.
Here's @UCCSUComms from @UCCSU talking about why marching for #EducationIs important! @TheUSI #Demo pic.twitter.com/f9gWGCgEoe
— Maeve Richardson (@USI_Equality) October 18, 2016
The Union of Students in Ireland expects up to 5,000 people to march to Government Buildings for the protest.
They want the Government to adopt the state-funded option proposed in the Cassels report on Higher Education.
Join @TheUSI tomorrow & march for third-level public funding. #EducationIs https://t.co/x3WnAdvm1Y pic.twitter.com/U3hLohIhEi
— spunout.ie (@spunout) October 18, 2016
USI president Annie Hoey says an alternative option of student loan schemes would be a disaster for third-level education.
"We don't believe that young people and our students should be strapped with mortgage-style loans and debt," she said.
"We already have the second-highest fees in Europe, and we don't want them to go any higher, we believe that education should be publically funded and accessible to anyone who wants to avail of it."
Tomorrow, we march against loans for students to fund our colleges with our parents, teachers, younger families and friends #Educations pic.twitter.com/lpygAIizPq
— Union of Students in Ireland (@TheUSI) October 18, 2016
