Green Party

Norwich City Councillor and Green Party national Deputy Leader, Adrian Ramsay, today backed student calls for a review of Higher Education (HE) funding and condemned efforts by university vice chancellors to bring about student top-up fees as high as £7000 a year.

Councillor Ramsay expressed support for demands by local students at the University of East Anglia (UEA) in Norwich - and by the National Union of Students (NUS) - for a comprehensive review of the HE funding system in 2009.

A Government review of HE is already intended, but it is expected to be narrowly focussed on whether the maximum student top-up fee - currently £3000 per annum - can be increased, and if so to what level. NUS says a much wider review is necessary, which examines the full impact of recent funding changes including the increasing debt of students and the inadequacy of loans and grants. NUS fears that poorer students could soon be priced out of the more 'prestigious' universities.

A report published today by Universities UK considers possible future funding scenarios including annual top up fees of £5000 and £7000. But UUK accepts that this could lead to a massive average graduate debt of £32,000.

Councillor Ramsay will be taking on former education secretary Charles Clarke MP for the Norwich South seat at the next General Election. While a UEA student, Councillor Ramsay played a leading role in the campaign against the introduction of the current system of top-up fees, which Mr Clarke introduced.

Councillor Ramsay said: "Higher Education must be adequateley funded but in a way which does not penalise or deter students from families with low or modest incomes. Many students are already struggling with debt and having to choose between their lectures and another shift at the supermarket to pay their rent.

"The Green Party supports the demand of NUS for a much broader review of Higher Education, which looks at all the funding options available. Teenagers from the poorest parts of Norwich and elsewhere should be able to go to the best universities if they obtain the necessary grades, and not be deterred by massive fees or the prospect of life-strangling debt.

"The system of top-up fees that Charles Clarke brought in is fundamentally unfair. Students who earn more as a result of their studies should of course contribute back to society - but through higher level of income tax, not through a tax on learning. Education should be free at the point of delivery and it is shameful that a Labour Government has continually taken the UK away from this principle."

Write a comment

• Required fields are marked with *.

Name:
Email:
Website:
Subject:
Comment: *

Help prevent spam - enter security code above:
 

Elspeth
Posts: 1

Higher Education funding
Reply #1 on : Mon June 01, 2009, 20:12:26

---

This speaks only of school leavers and first degrees. What of higher degrees? The current system means that few can do these without borrowing through Career Development loans, an this leads to crippling debt after the course. There's no student loan system for HE graduates, who have to start repaying regardless of what they earn after a certain time. I look for a government who helps people study, not precludes it because of debt