Trinity College has announced an initiative to help teens in direct provision

Trinity College has said that it is working towards providing more places for students in direct provision.

The university, located in Dublin city centre, hopes to help more teenagers reach further education. They recently revealed that they have set up a team to tackle the issue. Currently, Trinity only accepts students who have already been granted official refugee status or humanitarian leave and have been living in Ireland for at least three years. Now the college hopes to extend this further. Dublin City University, University College Dublin, University College Cork and the University of Limerick are four colleges that accept applicants from direct provision. With the addition of Trinity it would bring the number to five and hopefully pave the way for even more educational institutes. The Student Pilot Support Scheme put in place by the government has been the subject of strong criticism. The scheme aims to help asylum seekers enter higher education but many feel that the scheme is flawed. According to University Times only one asylum seeker entered college under the scheme in 2017. Trinity College Dublin Students’ Union President Shane De Rís was quoted as having said on the issue;

"We have an opportunity to lend those in direct provision a hand-up, to create new opportunities for them. I believe it imperative that we do whatever is in our power to make Trinity accessible to those in the asylum system."

De Rís is part of the team working to open up the university to those in direct provision and ensure that everyone has the opportunity to receive an education.