Majority at college work `just to survive'

Don't stop your children from taking part-time jobs, but make sure that their hours are kept to a reasonable level. That was the advice given to parents by an Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern when he launched a report earlier this summer on a survey of the part-time working habits of second-level students. The advice could well apply to third-level students. Increasing numbers of students in higher education are being forced to work long hours in part-time jobs to finance their way through college.

According to a survey carried out in January and February this year by USI, 53 per cent of students work part-time. Of those who work, 41 per cent work between nine and 16 hours per week; 31 per cent work between 17 and 24 hours and 11 per cent work between 25 and 36 hours.

The union says that the situation has got worse with escalating rents in Dublin and other urban centres being one of the key causes. Last year, rents rose by 25 per cent in the Dublin area. As to rates of pay, the USI, which represents over 150,000 students throughout Ireland, north and south, says that 21 per cent of those who work part-time at third-level earn between £3.51 and £4 per hour while 12 per cent earn less than £3 per hour and 19 per cent earn between £4.51 and £5.

As to third-level students, the issue of part-time work is a contentious one. According to Cork Institute of Technology's Ed Riordan: "the level of part-time working among students is phenomenal . . . They work to fund a social life. The time spent working and socialising eats into their study time."

According to Tallaght IT's Columb Collins: "we have to accept it. Part-time working is now a fact of life for students. At Tallaght IT, we are considering plans to act as a work placement agency for our students, so that we can push them to work in areas which relate to their studies. If we could do this, it would help a lot."

Some experts are suggesting that colleges should even examine ways in which our system, which is not geared to the American work-your-way-through-college model, can be made more flexible.

It's worth remembering, also, that students who have more disposable income are under less pressure to repay loans and college fees. Aideen Masterson, USIT NOW's marketing manager, says that travel to places such as "The Big Apple" is now high on the list of priorities for students.

"We've heard of students working in the crime labs in Chicago, on stud farms in Kentucky and in casinos in the Wisconsin dells," says Masterson. Part-time work does seem to make the route to the bigger world more accessible to young people. It seems the world really is their oyster.

It's clear that the pressure to hold down a part-time job begins at second level.

Parents and teachers were given a jolt when it emerged that high percentages of students at second-level work part-time, according to a survey conducted this year.

Over 75 per cent of second-level students work part-time.

The report on second-level students, which was prepared for the Dublin Employment Pact and launched by the Taoiseach earlier this year, surveyed more than 1,000 pupils in 16 Dublin schools.

It finds that students from disadvantaged schools are more likely to be working during term time. Of the students who work, more than 15 per cent are working over 20 hours a week.

The report finds that large shops and supermarkets are the most popular workplaces for second-level students followed by restaurants/fast food outlets and pubs/off licences. One of the recommendations of the report is for more flexibility in the way schools operate, so that pupils who want to work can be accommodated. The report's author, Mark Morgan, of St Patrick's College, Drumcondra, in Dublin, says that joint education and work options should be considered.

Students do not appear to be concerned about working during their time at second level, the survey reports. For example, almost 40 per cent of those surveyed say that it is unlikely such work would make them tired in school. Almost 90 per cent think it is unlikely that such work might cause them to drop out of school. At Easter this year at the ASTI annual delegate conference, teachers expressed their concern about second-level students working. They said employers are "poaching" students, ringing schools to ask students to work for them.

One delegate, Maire Ni Laoire, from Cork, said that the level of part-time work made trying to organise extracurricular activities extremely difficult. "Such part-time working is lessening students' life chances," she said.

Another teacher, Kevin Brogan, from Drogheda, said that a survey of 295 second-level students in his area had found that 200 were working part-time. A lot of this work was unregulated and students were not aware of their rights.

According to a survey carried out by The Irish Times earlier this year, Transition Year students revealed that there is no shortage of money. The message from their responses seem to indicate that perhaps they are spending too much time earning it.

Considering their long hours, students' earnings are not high. One-fifth of the respondents earned up to £20 per week; 26 per cent earned between £20 and £60 a week, 19 per cent earned between £60 and £100 a week and 3 per cent said they were earning more than £100 per week.

All the students surveyed said they were receiving pocket money too. What do they spend this money on? Magazines figure fairly high up the list, with nearly a fifth of students (girls more than boys) saying their weekly pocket money typically went on magazines. Clothes, sweets and entertainment, however featured more prominently.