Lone parents are eligible for €5k higher education bursary
By Aura McMenamin
Lone parents hoping to attend IT Tallaght are now eligible for a higher education bursary worth €5,000, reports Aura McMenamin.
The Department of Education announced €6m worth of funding to assist lone parents and other groups who are under-represented in higher level education.
The ‘1916 Bursary Fund’ will commemorate the centenary of 1916 as part of an overall series of measures to promote participation by these groups in higher education.
Students eligible for the 1916 Bursary Fund must fall into one of the target groups such as lone parents, first time and mature student entrants, students with a disability, Travellers, further education award holders and ethnic minorities, including refugees.
There will be 25 students from Technological University for Dublin (TU4D) group made up of IT Tallaght, DIT and IT Blanchardstown who will benefit from the fund, with five of these going to lone parents each year.
There are 200 bursaries available for students in higher level institutions across the country, with 40 of these going to lone parents.
According to the Department of Education, students from these groups must be socioeconomically disadvantaged.
Each bursary will be worth €5,000 per year, over the next three years, and can be added to a SUSI grant if the student qualifies for one.
The funding, which is part of the Programme for Access to Higher Education (Path) Fund, will commence for the 2017/2018 academic year.
According to the Department of Education, the bursary ‘underlines the Government’s commitment to the type of equality of opportunity envisaged by the 1916 signatories’.
Announcing the funding, Minister for Education and Skills Richard Bruton said “Ensuring those who come to education at a disadvantage are fully supported is a key priority of mine as Minister.
“If we want our Education system to be the best, it must be as inclusive as possible.”
