Ms Megan Yeates:

My background is slightly different to the others because I did not come through an apprenticeship. I came through the level 8 degree course. I have also experienced similar difficulties as them in trying to keep a part-time job while going through full-time education. I did four years of a degree course. Throughout those four years, I worked 20 or 30 hours per week. I was living in Kildare and I had to commute to Dublin. As I was not eligible for any grants or supports, I had to finance it all myself. I have gone back to do my masters and the same thing has happened again. I am in a full-time masters course but am trying to keep a full-time job. I am trying to keep the balance. I still have bills and expenses that must be paid. We do not all have the luxury of being able to dedicate as much as time as we would like to our education, because we still need to live. I can definitely sympathise with the others. It is a tough balance to strike. For many people, it just becomes easier to take up a full-time job and to drop the education aspect.