A ‘STUDY-IN’ protest staged by students at University College Cork (UCC) has succeeded in convincing the university to extend library opening hours during the exam period.
For three successive nights, students refused to leave the library after 9pm, staying to study for an extra two hours. It followed outrage after the library closed at 5.45pm last Sunday – the day before the Christmas exams began. The students’ union (UCCSU) had said many students still do not have secure accommodation, with some sleeping on couches or in hostels, leaving them without a proper place to study.
However yesterday the union agreed a deal with library staff to extend closing time from 9.15pm to 10.45pm on weekdays during exams. It will also open for an additional three hours this Sunday.
Today they thanked staff for cooperating fully with the protest and allowing the students to stay studying uninterrupted after the library closed over the last three days.
This is the first time UCC students have been required to sit exams before Christmas as they have switched to a semester-based system which splits exams into two periods.
“The most important thing is that students sitting exams over the next two weeks can study in the library until a reasonable hour,” commented UCCSU President Mark Staunton.
However the students’ union said the fight was not over, as students are dissatisfied in general with opening hours year round and they will be raising this with management in the new year.
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