Student Fees Decision Leaves Northern Ireland's Veterinary Students Out In The Cold
13 years ago
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9th September, 2011 13h33
Veterinary Associations have raised concerns over the freezing of tuition fees in Northern Ireland not extending to all students from Northern Ireland. The British Veterinary Association (BVA) and its regional division the North of Ireland Veterinary Association (NIVA) are now calling for special arrangements to be made for students studying degrees not available in Northern Ireland.
With neither of the two Northern Ireland universities offering a veterinary degree course, students traditionally attend veterinary schools in England and Scotland with a small number of places also available at University College Dublin. Wales, which also has no veterinary school, is subsidising its students studying at other UK universities.
Harvey Locke, BVA President said:
“We are concerned that the proposed university fee increases in Great Britain will have a significant and disproportionate effect on the opportunities for Northern Ireland’s students to study veterinary medicine and to consequently practice veterinary medicine in Northern Ireland. Northern Ireland along with Wales is the only other major agricultural region of the British Isles which does not have a veterinary college or faculty attached to a local university.”
David Torrens, President of NIVA said:
“Our concern is two fold. Firstly, that the high cost of places in England and Scotland and the scarcity of places in Dublin will dissuade Northern Irish students from the veterinary degree. Secondly, that the debt accrued by those who do decide to study in England or Scotland will be so great that they cannot afford to return home to work in Northern Ireland’s rural farm animal practices.
“With fewer vets we risk the delivery of surveillance and emergency assistance in the face of a disease outbreak in Northern Ireland.
“We have written to the Higher Education Minister Stephen Farry asking the Northern Ireland Executive to consider financial assistance for veterinary students from Northern Ireland and have received assurances that the Minister is mindful of our concerns and that he has asked his officials to consider these as they finalise the policy.
“We await the detailed proposals on Monday to find out whether our concerns have been addressed.”
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