ANNEX A

NORTHERN IRELAND ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE FOR HIGHER AND FURTHER EDUCATION, TRAINING AND EMPLOYMENT

RESPONSE TO THE DEPARTMENT OF HIGHER AND FURTHER EDUCATION, TRAINING AND EMPLOYMENT'S

REVIEW OF STUDENT FINANCE IN NORTHERN IRELAND

TERMS OF REFERENCE

To consider and make recommendations to the Minister, on the Department of Higher and Further Education, Training and Employment's consultation document "Student Finance in Northern Ireland" (February 2000).

The Committee's response should secure affordable and realistic proposals for change which:

• specifically address the question of tuition fees and financial support for Northern Ireland students especially those normally resident in Northern Ireland;

• facilitate wider participation in Higher and Further Education;

• promote equality of access, particularly in terms of Further and Higher Education; full-time and part-time provision; socio-economic factors; age; geographic location within Northern Ireland;

• allow for the private and social returns to investment in Higher and Further Education.

• provide a firm basis for institutional funding in NI;

• take account of recent developments to support lifelong learning, such as individual learning accounts; and

• examine costed options.

August 2000

Dr Esmond Birnie
Chairman
Higher & Further Education, Training & Employment Committee

STUDENT FINANCE

STATEMENT BY THE CHAIRMAN OF THE NORTHERN IRELAND ASSEMBLY HIGHER AND FURTHER EDUCATION, TRAINING AND EMPLOYMENT COMMITTEE

The Committee are determined to work with the Department so as to earn Northern Ireland a world class reputation for education and training provision which fully equips people for the challenges which lie ahead of our society as it emerges from years of conflict.

As part of this effort, the members of the Higher and Further Education, Training and Employment Committee have stated on numerous occasions their commitment to increase participation and widen access to higher and further education; to bridge any inequalities between funding for further and higher education; to ensure funding arrangements which remove all major barriers to prospective students.

The Committee has an important role in advising the Minister so that any policy decisions taken in respect of student finance in Northern Ireland addresses directly the difficulties experienced at present. The Committee therefore welcomes the opportunity to respond to the Department's review of student finance and will seek to ensure that all issues of relevance to Northern Ireland are fully investigated.

There are many acknowledged issues which require to be addressed to ensure, as far as possible, that any new system meets the aspirations of the Committee on behalf of the people of Northern Ireland. These include:

Participation
Access
Quality, scope and relevance of provision
Value for money
The private and social returns to Further Education and Higher Education
Student support
Institutional funding
Lifelong learning

The Department of Higher & Further Education, Training & Employment has recently completed a public consultation exercise, which commenced in February this year. The Minister, Dr Sean Farren, has agreed to the Committee's request to have access to the submissions received by the Department, subject to any requests for confidentiality by the authors. We are very grateful to the Minister, as the Committee will now be able to consider pursuing contributors' views in greater depth. The Committee will also consider best practice elsewhere.

The Committee has commissioned independent research to inform its final report, which will be included with the final report to the Minister and the Assembly in September 2000.

Please join in the Committee's deliberations, whether you have any opinions on the issue of Student Finance or if you simply wish to give your personal testimony on how the present system affects you or your family. The Committee are very keen to hear your views. Some of the issues you might think of addressing are highlighted below.You will also find useful material on recent deliberations elsewhere at the following websites:

www.studentfinance.org.uk

www.Scotland.gov.uk/consultation/lifelonglearning/stln-12

www.scottish.parliament.uk/whats_happening/research/pdf_res_notes/rn00-61.pdf

HOW DO YOU RESPOND?

• E mail to our website at:

Committee.hfete@niassembly.gov.uk

• Or write to: The Clerk, Higher and Further Education, Training and Employment Committee, Room 283, Parliament Buildings, Stormont, Belfast BT4 3XX.

Tel 028 90521272, Fax 028 90521433

All or part of your response to the Committee, and your identity, may be made public unless your reply explicitly states what should be confidential. Responses should reach the Committee as soon as possible.

ESMOND BIRNIE

Chair of Committee

STUDENT FINANCE - WHAT DO YOU THINK?

What should be the guiding principles for Student Finance in Northern Ireland?

Do Northern Ireland students need more support towards living costs, and if so, how should this be produced?

Should students contribute financially towards their tuition?

If so, how? At what stage - up front, or when residual, or total, earning reach £10000, £17000, £25000 per annum?

What student finance system would best promote access to further and higher education by Northern Ireland students? What would this cost, and who would pay?

Who should pay for further and higher education (both in terms of institutional and student costs)?

What is your personal experience as a student, under the current or any other system?

How important is lifelong learning and why? What are the problems of lifelong learning in Northern Ireland?

What are the barriers to mature students participating in higher education, and how can these be overcome?

How good is the quality of higher education in Northern Ireland? How relevant is higher education in Northern Ireland to the changing needs of the NI economy?

Does higher education exclude certain individuals or groups? If so, can this be changed, and how?

Higher and Further Education Training and Employment Minutes

27 June 2000