Q&A

Q: I graduated from Cardiff University in 1982 with a B Sc Hons in institutional management and came to live in Wicklow in 1983. I'm originally from Antrim. Having worked for six years, I stayed at home with my children so I'm almost 10 years out of the workforce. I'm interested in teaching home economics at second level or in a degree in tourism / hospitality management. What is my best plan of action? What about the financial situation?

- Wicklow Reader

A: As regards the B Ed in home economics, you could apply to St Catherine's College of Education, Sion Hill, Dublin, where 10 per cent of places are reserved for mature students and the educational requirement is Leaving Cert or equivalent. You must apply to CAO and also to the college enclosing a CV by February 1st next.

The course is made up of three sections: home economics (food studies, home and environment studies and textile studies), teacher education and one elective subject (from a choice of economics and consumer studies, Gaeilge or religious studies). This means you can teach home economics and whichever subject you have chosen at second level or at adult education level, because the teaching qualification is part of the course.

You would need to clarify with Sion Hill if you are eligible for any exemptions from your B Sc degree. As well as teaching, this degree opens up other options such as the catering industry, food science, home economics specialist with food companies / trade boards, the leisure and tourism industry, setting up a small business etc.

The hospitality management course in DIT Cathal Brugha Street could suit. If you wish to apply as a mature student, you must apply by CAO closing date, February 1st next, if you are entering the first year of the course. You may be eligible for exemptions but you should check.

If you are entering the second or subsequent years of the course, you should apply to the DIT Admissions Office by March 31st next. An interview is normally part of the selection procedure for such course.

This course has a very wide range of subjects, many of which would appear to overlap with your previous course but you will need to check precisely. These subjects include management, accounting, strategic marketing, economics, computers, law, finance, human resources and languages with a choice of electives in years three and four.

From this you will see that it's not just hotel and catering management but has a much broader scope in the hospitality management area. On completion you will qualify for both the Irish Hotel and Catering Institute membership and also for the Licentiateship of the Hotel, Catering and Institutional Management Association of the UK.

From the financial point of view as a mature student once you have secured a place, you will be deemed to fulfil academic requirement for free fees but you must also satisfy the means test. Because you already have a primary degree, you will not be eligible for free fees if you have received a grant for the duration of your Cardiff degree.

If that degree was only three years, then you would get free fees for the fourth year of both degrees. The Department's higher education grants section will be able to clarify your case - phone (01) 873 4700 or 0506-21363 ext 1250.

You could also apply for the more narrowly-focussed hotel and catering management course (DT402) at DIT Cathal Brugha St, a three-year ESF-funded national diploma open to mature students. This means that you will not pay tuition fees even as a mature student but a maintenance grant would be paid only if you satisfy the criteria and conditions set out.

Q: My son has applied for a place in five British universities and hopes to get an offer in a particular combination of business studies and languages which he would very much like to do. He is especially interested in a course at one college. I'm worried about the financial implications of the new tuition fees of up to £1,000 at British colleges. He is not quite sure how he should handle the offer from the college which he is most keen to get into, particularly if he gets this offer before the others. What is the current situation on fees?

- Galway Parent

A: Until your son gets decisions on all his five choices, he doesn't have to do anything. When he has got all decisions, UCAS will ask him to accept one offer firmly and this then binds him to taking up that place if he achieves the grades needed for that course. In addition, he will be entitled to hold one other offer (usually at a lower level of grades) as his conditional offer, but he shouldn't accept this unless he is happy to take it.

The latest possible date for receipt of decisions by UCAS colleges for students who have applied by the December 15th closing date is April 29th next and the latest reply date then is the end of May 1998. So there is quite a bit of time yet before he has to commit himself. Let's hope there will be definite news on the fees situation by then.

At the moment, it's quite unclear as to how local education authorities will assess the family income of students from other EU countries like Ireland with differing tax systems. There is also the problem of how British and Northern Ireland colleges will force fee defaulters, especially those from overseas, to pay up.

Final details on means testing of 1998 entrants will not be available until November 1998 so that colleges won't know how much to charge individual students and will then have to decide if the college will debar a student who is in arrears. In addition, there seems to be no clear policy on what the fee will be for a year on work placement or a year abroad studying languages, which is part of the course chosen by your son.

So the current situation is that UCAS is concerned that students who are applying to colleges now may be offered a place without knowing precisely what they will be expected to pay. This seems to be very unsure grounds on which to rest the traditional contract between college and student.

I suggest you go ahead as normal and hope the situation will be clarified as it has to be for the thousands of UK applicants as well. The general situation is expected to be finalised by next April. Of course, this situation affects your son only if he wishes to take up a place in one of those five courses in the UCAS system. He should also apply to CAO, which works as a completely independent service and which has a number of imminently suited courses for his aptitudes.

Questions can be answered only through this column and not by phone or post. Write to Sile Sheehy, Education & Living, The Irish Times, D'Olier Street, Dublin 2 - or by email to education@irish-times.ie