Trinity College Board Agree To Scrap Repeat Fees After Student Protest
The Trinity College Board have announced that the proposed €450 flat fee for any student sitting a repeat or supplemental exam will not be implemented.
The decision was reached after a meeting of the College Board today after weeks of widespread student protest following the announcement of the proposed fee several weeks ago.
Trinity students protested in their hundreds, blocking off entrances to the college, posting hundreds of negative reviews of the college on Google and Facebook as well as, most memorably and daringly, occupying the exam hall for some three days leading to a protracted battle with the university itself. The "Take Back Trinity" movement quickly became too vociferous to ignore and the college board and had to acquiesce to the protestors' demands and planned a meeting to reconsider their decision
That meeting, which took place today, led to the decision to scrap the fees, as announced by Provost of the college Patrick Prendergast. TCDSU came to the meeting with their key demand being a return to a system whereby students would not be financially punished for having to resit an exam.
Students, who had been gathered outside House 1 - where the meeting had been taking place - chanted in celebration at the news that their weeks of protesting had paid off.
#TakeBackTrinity has won! Supplemental Fees have been scrapped! Students celebrate outside House 1 where the decision by College Board was made. pic.twitter.com/6UGAPdDs3B
— TCD Students' Union (@tcdsu) March 28, 2018
The college has also agreed to set up a board assessing the possibility of at some point implementing modular billing, comprised of a committee of five people which, crucially, includes the President of the SU and GSU. Despite this being a mild concession on the SU's original demands that no modular billing should be implemented, the fact that any new proposal for modular billing, will crucially be overseen by student representatives is a significant coup.
The College's u-turn on this decision can only be seen as a comprehensive victory for the #TakeBackTrinity movement and a sign of what can be achieved through protest and dissent.
H/T: The University Times