AIT defends registration policy following criticism

Athlone IT has defended its registration policy for students applying for third level grants, following criticism from Deputy Denis Naughten. The Fine Gael TD issued a statement saying Institutes of Technology were seeking confirmation of third level grant approval before allowing students register for their courses. Deputy Naughten was critical of this, as he felt it was putting extra pressure on students and their families. However Athlone IT's Communications and Marketing Manager Brian Lynch clarified the institute's policy yesterday (Tuesday) by stating that there were two different grades of registration. He said students who had paid their fees in full, or had received confirmation that their grant was approved, were considered to be fully registered. Students who expected to receive a grant, but had not yet received approval for it, were given a "temporary resgistration," Mr Lynch said. He explained that this lasts for a four-week period and if grant approval had still not been received at that stage, "certain access rights such as student email accounts and access to the library will then start to be removed on a phased basis." Mr Lynch accepted that bodies such as the Vocational Education Committees are currently "snowed under" with grant applications. He said that the matter was "not an easy one to navagate," but it was decided that the institute would have to remove access privilages from students who had not paid or received grant approval after four weeks in order to ensure it didn't end the year with its intake of fees in arrears. The president of the Athlone IT students union, Gary Cassin, said the local institute allowed for more flexibility than other colleges in this area, and he felt that the real issue was the delay in the processing and payment of grants. "Last year we had a situation where some people didn't receive their first grant payment until well after Christmas, which was rediculous, and it looks like there could be similar issues this year, so I think that's what Denis Naughten should be focusing on," said Mr Cassin.