Inishowen Sinn Féin County Councillor and VEC member Education Jack Murray has said that the significant difficulties in the processing of third level grant applications by the recently established Student Universal Support Ireland (SUSI) is at crisis point.
Cllr Murray was commenting after his party obtained statistics from the Department of Education and Skills which showed that 52,430 student applications were still waiting to be processed through the online SUSI system.
Cllr Murray also stated that he and his colleagues have been contacted by a number of students who because they are still awaiting payment of their grant may be forced to drop out of college, while many cannot fully enrol and access college libraries and other facilities.
“The SUSI online application system has been a disaster. Tens of thousands of students have been left in dire straits as they await payment of their third level grant.
“I am aware of a number of cases where students cannot fully enrol without their grant. Now through no fault of their own they cannot access library and other college facilities. Others are even worried that they have to drop out of college altogether due to the financial stress they have been put under.
“Sinn Féin welcomed the SUSI system whenever it was first launched in June, but we also made clear that it would have to be properly resourced in order to provide an adequate service. The backlog of thousands of unprocessed applications, the apparent lack of training for staff and the difficulties in getting answers when contacting SUSI are much more than initial teething problems.
“It is now time Education Minister Ruairí Quinn intervened directly to ensure this integrated on-line system, which was supposed to make the process of applying for a grant a good deal easier, can make the outstanding payments immediately.
“The failure of SUSI has already had serious consequences for students and their families unacceptable that its serious flaws could force people out of college at a time when higher education is so important for our long-term prosperity.”
Tags:
