Budget 2023 will reduce college costs says Minister Harris

According to Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science Minister, Simon Harris, college fees for third-level students could fall by up to €250 a year from 2023

This comes as the government plan to address the cost-of-living crisis in next month's budget.

Students and families subject to €3,000 in college fees each year are reported to benefit from new measures, both in the budget and the one-billion-euro cost-of-living package, senior government sources have said.

An options paper for cost savings on college admissions is set to be published next week, but Minister Harris is believed to have demanded a cut to the cost of registration fees.

Rumours have circulated that this cut could be as high as €500, but sources have hinted it may be at a €250 cut limit this year.

It is understood that the Minister has no preference on how the overall cost of college is reduced, with more rumours that an expansion of grant eligibility is also on the table - which could see college become affordable for more people.

Not all are in agreement, however, with Fine Gael TDs in particular saying they would prefer a larger universal cut to colleges fees instead of elevated grant eligibility, so that more people benefit.

Minister Harris has said that he "proudly believes that we have to help people who get up early in the morning, who work hard, and feel they don’t get any financial support and assistance from the Government."

Speaking at Trinity College, Dublin, Harris added that this support should come in the form of long and short-term financial support mechanisms. He further explained: "I’m very clear that if there’s a package to help people with the cost of living between now and the end of the year, and a package into 2023, I want students and their parents to be part of both.

"So there needs to be in Budget 2023 immediate measures that help hardworking families now, and measures for next year."

Minister Simon Harris with Trinity College Dublin provost Linda Doyle during his visit to the college's soon-to-open disAbility hub, part of its new disability service development. Picture: Brian Lawless/PA

The 2023 Budget is also set to bring pupil-teacher ratios at primary level down by one point, under plans being developed by Education Minister Norma Foley.

This change will allow primary schools operating at a general 24:1 average to bring the ratio down to 23:1 with the reduction estimated to cost about 30-million-euro per year.

Despite much progress in the reduction of Irish class sizes, the country still remains high above the EU average of 20:1, with many Irish primary schools managing classes of more than 30 students.

Ireland was the only country contending with social distancing of such a high number of pupils, in the height of the pandemic. It also bodes badly for students, as well as teachers, with academic studies regularly and clearly identifying a correlation between smaller class sizes and better individual grades and learning outcomes per student.

To meet this one-point reduction in ratio, 1,750 new teaching positions will have to be created, with 980 teachers needed among these positions to work with special educational needs.

Approximately 420 additional jobs will arise following the inclusion of more schools in the DEIS scheme, while a further 350 new teaching posts will be created at primary level arising from a further reduction in the staffing schedule.

Overall, the 2023 budget is looking positive in education terms, but we'll have to wait and see what the rest of the budget brings.