AHEAD: Association for Higher Education Access & Disability
Creating inclusive environments in education & employment for people with disabilities.

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AHEAD responds to review of fund for students with disabilities

AHEAD welcomes the opportunity to contribute to the Review of the Fund which is being carried out with a view to identifying areas of improvement. Set up by the Department of Education and Administered by AHEAD in 1994, initially the fund supported 50 students in 16 higher education institutions at a total cost of £80,000. It has moved on hugely since then and now supports over 6,000 students with disabilities and specific learning difficulties in higher education. The Fund has played a significant role not only in supporting students, but also in facilitating higher education institutions to build an infrastructure to include students with disabilities and in mobilising positive attitudes them. The basic philosophy of the Fund was that no student who would otherwise gain access to higher education should be prevented from doing so by reason of a disability and this approach remains the central pillar of the Fund.

This document provides feedback from AHEAD to the National Access Office on the Review of the Fund for Students with Disabilities in Higher Education 2012. AHEAD represents most higher education institutions in Ireland, further education colleges, Teagasc and students with disabilities. It will specifically address the questions posed by the NAO in their preliminary Review Document.

You can download our response here (word version)

© AHEAD
Creating Inclusive Environments in Education and Employment for People with Disabilities

East Hall, UCD, Carysfort Avenue, Blackrock, Co Dublin.
T +353 1 592 1467 E ahead@ahead.ie W www.ahead.ie RCN 20025182