It has come to light that students from Wales or England with Irish grandparents can pursue their studies at Scottish universities Free. A loophole in the legal system has entitled the students who have Irish grandparents to avoid tuition fees in the universities in Scotland. Thousands of students would be benefited by this law. They are allowed to take citizenship of Ireland and apply as EU students and their fees would be paid under European Equality Law.
According to the 2001 census, around 625,000 people residing in Wales and England claimed Irish background. It is estimated that around six million people across the Britain are descended from Irish grandparents. In the UK, under certain circumstances, residents with Irish great-grandparents are allowed to obtain Irish passports. Children as well as grandchildren of other European statuses can also make use of the legal loophole. The Government of Scotland exhibited only a low profile on this development by stating that the number of people affected will be very small.
It is expected that Scottish universities would be flooded with applications. Normally the students were to pay around 9000 Pounds as fees. Naturally this would have its impact on other institutions. While competition for places will be increased in some institutions, others would be suffering from lack of sufficient funds. To fund European Union students every year Scottish government has to spend 75 million Pounds and it is estimated that in Autumn, there is an increase of 6 per cent in the applications from the EU students.
The president of the University and College Union Scotland, Gordon Watson said that already the funding system has become very difficult to deal with. He added that the competition for places would be increased as students with dual-European passport would be competing with Scottish students and next year the competition would be even greater. The Scottish universities have created problem for the UK universities and they are trying to increase the number of admission.
The president of NUS Scotland, Robin Parker said that it is necessary that the students must be well informed about the places that are available and what all support they would be able to get. A spokeswoman for Universities Scotland said that as per records, currently there is no increase in the number of student applications from students holding Irish passports. The Universities Scotland is still seeking clarifications from the Government regarding this issue on behalf of the students.
A spokesman of the Scottish Government said that for a number of years, students holding dual-UK and EU nationality were allowed to apply for free support at Scottish Universities as non-UK EU nationals. Till date there was no significant raise in the number of such applications and the government do not expect an alarming rise in the number now. Students are to prove that they hold EU nationality before the authorities before the prescribed date as the eligibility criteria for claiming nationality differs from state to state. The Government is closely monitoring the trend in the applications and is ready to take necessary steps. They are also exploring the possibility of imposing an EU management fee within the frame work of EU Law. At present while the Scottish students are allowed free education, students from Wales, England and Northern Ireland are charged 9000 Pounds to pursue their studies in Scotland.
