Funding cut could force young mothers out of school

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Written by Marie Madden

Wednesday, 20 February 2008

Up to 25 young mothers in Galway will have to drop out of education next month if a local support group’s fears of not receiving funding for 2008 are realised.

Up until last year, the Galway Young Mothers in Education project had been receiving funding from the Department of Education but without warning, they were notified in December that they would not be receiving funding for 2007.

Funding has not been guaranteed for 2008 either and project co-ordinator Eleanor Clancy told the Galway Independent that if they do not receive an allocation, the service will have to close its doors next month.

The Galway Young Mothers in Education project was set up in 1999 to support young mothers in the West side of the city and help them to remain in or return to education. The group provides information and financial support for young mothers who wish to complete second-level, third-level and PLC courses in the city.

“The money we have received in the past had been ‘slippage funding’ and in December, the Department told us that there was no funding for 2007 and it wasn’t looking good for 2008 either,” said Ms Clancy.

“There are 60 young mothers on our books at the moment and they are going to suffer majorly if we have to close. 25 of them are in serious danger of dropping out of education without our support,” she added.

In a last-ditch effort to prevent the closure, the Galway Young Mothers in Education group will hold an open meeting this Saturday, 23 February at the Youth Work Ireland offices on Prospect Hill. The meeting will take place at 12 noon and all local representatives, past participants and members of the public have been invited to attend. Ms Clancy is hoping that the meeting will help the highlight the plight of young mothers in Galway and appealed to the Department to grant the vital funding needed to continue the service.

“These mothers come to us and we help them to fill out the forms, apply for funding and grants and figure out a plan that will get them back to education. We also help them out financially with childcare costs. We are appealing to the Department to help us out because otherwise we will have no choice but to close this much-needed service. This is their responsibility. The education system is not geared toward young mothers and it is very hard for them to work through the bureaucracy and get back to college. These women are a marginalised group and they are entitled to an education just like everyone else.”

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