Nasc Press Release: Disappointment that the student support scheme for asylum seeking school leavers may be for 1 year only
Nasc welcomes the publication of the details of the student support scheme to grant school leavers equality of access to third level education which was published in full by the Department Of Employment and Jobs on 02 September. However, we remain deeply concerned that this scheme is now termed a “Pilot Scheme” and it appears to be for the academic year 2015/2016 only.
Fiona Finn CEO of Nasc stated “The fact that the scheme is Pilot Scheme, established for one year only, is extremely disappointing. There are no guarantees that the small cohort of students that qualify for the educational supports will be permitted to progress beyond the first academic year of their course. Given the fact that the qualifying criteria for this scheme are so limited and the numbers who could potentially qualify is so small – 22 children in Direct Provision sat their Leaving Certificate in 2015 – one can only conclude that the State, once again, is displaying scant disregard for human dignity of asylum seekers in Direct Provision”. “It is challenging enough for young people in Direct Provision to sit the Leaving Certificate and attend college and it seems unduly harsh that they now have the additional uncertainty and stress of not knowing if they will be allowed to complete their education”.
The Working Group on Direct Provision and the Protection Process, where Department of Education and Skills was represented, recommended extending educational supports for students who have been in the Irish school system for five years or more and are still awaiting a residency permission or protection status. The scheme envisaged was permanent in nature.
“Given that fact that access to education is universally accepted as hugely positive and enriching, success of the scheme is guaranteed from the outset. We now call upon the Minister Jan O Sullivan and her Department to commit to establishing a permanent scheme and to grant asylum seeking school leavers equality of access to education”. “We had hoped that the Minister would have taken the brave step and used this as an opportunity to extend the scheme to all young people in Direct Provision who have completed their Leaving Cert, but it seems what we now have is a diluted and limited scheme the serves neither the state, educational institutions and most importantly our young people living in Direct Provision”.
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The details of the scheme can be accessed here:http://www.education.ie/en/The-Department/Announcements/Pilot-Support-Scheme-2015-Now-accepting-applications.html
