Fees warning: UK system doesn't work, students told

THE GOVERNMENT could face difficulties if it tries to restore third-level fees for students, says an expert from Britain.

Sir David Watson, Professor of Higher Education Management at the University of London, has said that the introduction of fees in England, Wales and Northern Ireland two years ago led to a "very bureaucratic monster", which did not meet the needs of colleges.

Speaking at NUI Galway yesterday , Prof Watson said that fees of up to £3,000 (€3,823) are paid for each undergraduate in England, Wales and the North.Students are then charged through income tax after graduating, once they earn annual wages of £15,000. "The presumptions now in terms of future projections are that only about 70 per cent in real terms of what is offered by way of loan subsidies and fee payments will be recovered," Prof Watson said. While he was not opposed to fees, Prof Watson said governments generally faced this "headache" and had to be very careful.

An estimated 2,000 third-level students from NUI Galway and Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology voiced opposition yesterday to any re-introduction of fees. "The Government keeps talking about the knowledge economy and they are looking for another 13 per cent uptake in third level. It will never happen if fees are brought back," students' union president Muireann O'Dwyer said.