Students left high and dry with no timetables and no clue whether they’ll be on campus or not
· Minister needs to clarify how many extra spaces will be allocated for deferred students
Students have been left high and dry by Higher Education Institutes with no timetable and no clue whether they’ll be on campus or not according to Labour Higher Education Spokesperson, Senator Annie Hoey.
Senator Hoey said:
“There are a number of students returning or hoping to begin their studies at Higher Education Institutes who do not yet have their timetable either for semester one or for the whole year. This is causing an enormous amount of distress for students across the country.
“Without an indicative timetable students are struggling to plan the year ahead and a number of students are unable to make accommodation decisions because they do not have clarity as to how many hours they are required to be on campus, what their placements will look like and where they actually need to be and for how long over the coming months.
“Student accommodation is not cheap, and many students are weighing up the possibility of community and need clarity as to their on-campus situation in order to make an informed decision about where they will live. Some students have been told they will only have sixteen contact hours between now and Christmas and they are deciding as to whether they need accommodation.
“I have been contacted by students who have told me that they will be returning to campus in the next couple of weeks without any idea of what their timetable will look like and they have left in limbo in relation to accommodation.
“CAO offers are out this Friday and incoming first years will be looking for accommodation and this will clash with students from other years who have not secured accommodation because they are unsure about their situation because they don’t know whether they’ll be on campus or not.
“The Minister for Higher Education also needs to clarify how many extra spaces will be allocated to accommodate students who have deferred their course from last year are accommodated. Third Level institutions need to make the timetables available as soon as possible and the Minister needs to ensure that institutions have enough guidance around this, so they are empowered to make these timetables available as soon as possible. Students need to know what blended learning means and how many hours they are required to be on campus so they can start planning for the upcoming academic term.