THIRD-LEVEL education should encourage involvement in community activities, Dara Calleary (FF, Mayo) suggested.
He said that while there had been significant improvements since his time in college, student life was not all about lectures and degrees. "It is also about the level to which one gets involved in the community, be it through student unions or societies," he added.
"For those of us who had the privilege and luck to get involved, many of the skills we learned are those that we remember today, not necessarily what we learned during the lectures."
Mr Calleary said that DCU's model involved giving credit at degree level for people who got involved.
"If we can get students involved in voluntary and community activities at that age, albeit in a college scenario, it would be easier to sustain the level of involvement as they enter the working world and return to their communities," he added.
Deputies, he said, were fed up discussing the collapse in volunteerism in the House. "We must approach our target audience, as it were, and encourage its members to get involved at student level."
Mr Calleary was speaking during the resumed debate on the Student Support Bill.
David Stanton (FG, Cork East) said that at a time of increased competition, it was important to continue to invest in education at all levels and see that no student was forced to drop out of the education system for financial reasons.
"Ultimately, our investment in education is paid back to the economy many times when graduates gain employment," he added.
Mr Stanton expressed concern that there had not been sufficient progress in the schools building programme at primary and second level.
He added that it was crucially important that students experienced the magic and thrill of science, but that was not happening in many schools.
"I know students who will not take a science subject for the Leaving Certificate and one of the main reasons for this is they have never experienced hands-on science," Mr Stanton added.
Joe Behan (FF, Wicklow) said that the Bill was a long-overdue proposal to modernise and rationalise the student support schemes.
"It must be remembered that fees for those attending third level are a thing of the past. "This, more than anything else, has ensured greater access generally for people within the education system.
"However, we still need the student support schemes to ensure that those who are in the most disadvantaged circumstances get all the help they require to ensure they also have access to third level."
Joe Costello (Lab, Dublin Central) said it was a source of wonder that the existing structure had operated for so long. There were the higher education grants, third-level maintenance grants, VEC scholarship scheme and the PLC maintenance grant scheme. There were 66 awarding authorities.
"If one set out to create a more complex and bureaucratic scheme, one could not do much worse," said Mr Costello.
