TRINITY COLLEGE DUBLIN has reversed its decision on charging €450 for resit exam fees, following protests by students.
Earlier today, the Board of Trinity College Dublin released a statement saying it agreed with the Students’ Union proposal to return to the status quo regarding modular billing and fees for taking supplemental assessments.
This decision means that there will be no fee charged for supplemental examinations.
A committee of students and college officers will now examine alternatives to the proposal and report back in a year’s time.
The board also agreed today to give ‘fee certainty’ to postgraduate students and other students who pay full fees at undergraduate level.
“This means that these students who enter Trinity will know in advance how much fees will increase during each year of his or her studies,” said the statement.
These decisions were made on foot of proposals put to the board by the President of the Students’ Union and the Graduate Students’ Union with the agreement of the Provost, following a week of discussion between college officers and student representatives.
“I undertook that we would seriously consider alternative proposals, and we have done so,” said Provost, Dr Patrick Prendergast.
“I look forward to continuing the dialogue with student representatives to find a solution to the issues confronting Irish higher education, taking account of both fairness to all students and the College’s financial position. I would like to thank everyone who has contributed so far. ”
The campaign against the fees was called Take Back Trinity, and involved protesters staging a sit-in on campus for 48 hours.
In a statement, they said:
Take Back Trinity is the most successful student-led campaign this college has ever seen. The collective body of undergraduate and postgraduate students in Trinity College Dublin would like to express their full support to students all over Ireland fighting against the commodification of our education. We believe this decision is historic. By true anger and dedication from the students, College have decided to backtrack and reverse the decision.
Out of a poll of 3,504 students in a TCDSU referendum held in February, 82% voted strongly against the implementation of supplemental fees.
However, at a college board meeting in February 28, a decision was made to implement supplemental fees at a flat rate of €450.
In response to this decision, the student-led Take Back Trinity campaign emerged.
The group said:
We would like to express our gratitude to all Trinity staff members who supported us and have shown solidarity with the campaign – your support has not gone unnoticed.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
have your say