The low level of student grants is the "greatest disincentive of all" to young people from disadvantaged backgrounds wanting to go to college, the Provost of Trinity College Dublin, Dr Tom Mitchell, said yesterday.
He said the low level of maintenance grants was achieving "the exact opposite" of what the Government wanted in terms of such young people going on to study at third level.
It was sending out the message that since grants were well below the level of "dole" payments, it would be better for them to drop out of education and sign on the "dole". This needed to be "urgently faced up to".
Disadvantaged students living at home could not possibly pay for books, university and other necessary living expenses out of the current £600 annual grant, he said. "It makes no sense - it is an insane policy."
Dr Mitchell announced yesterday that TCD would start a second access programme for disadvantaged students from the autumn. This would involve a one-year pre-university "bridging course" for students who had taken the Leaving Certificate, but because of their economic and social circumstances had not obtained high enough marks to go to university through the Central Applications Office system.
There was no point in such young people re-sitting the Leaving Certificate since those disadvantaged circumstances would remain the same, he said. What was needed was a programme specifically geared to their needs, with the emphasis on study skills. Dr Mitchell said they hoped to have around 30 young people on the new access course, initially from the 11 Dublin schools involved in the existing Trinity Access Programme. They would do courses in English, language and communications skills, maths, science, information technology and study skills. They would then take an examination which, if they passed, would enable them to go on to TCD without the requisite number of CAO points. They would be funded by the university both during the "bridging course" and for their undergraduate studies.