“Student Finance isn’t working”, says Theresa May. Students face “one of the most expensive systems of university tuition in the world”. And Mrs May does what she does with every other issue that confronts her: she kicks it into the long grass and holds a “review”.
This review will take a year to undertake. We are offered no explanation as to why it will take that long. I am not an expert on tuition fees but I would have thought that experts would be able to come to a conclusion far quicker than that. How about in a few weeks?
In traditional May style, briefings make it clear that whilst we charge our bright children more money to go to university than anywhere else in the world, fees won’t be going anytime soon. The odds are they won’t be reduced either. If fees are not going to be reduced, then anything else is posturing.
Unlike the government, I don’t buy the argument that tuition fees take account of students earning more money when they finish university. That’s surely what the tax system is for. If you earn loads of money, you pay a lot more tax. But thanks to the Tory government of 2010 in which some Liberals had jobs, our brightest kids suffer a double whammy.
Imagine leaving uni with debts anywhere from £30k to £50k. No problem if you have rich parents for whom paying off £50k of fees is mere loose change. Not good if you are from a working class family that has struggled for years to help you through university. But then, universities are not meant for the lower orders, are they? Certainly not in “proper” subjects.
May acknowledged that poorer students had the greatest burden of debt. Well, no shit Sherlock. Of course they do. Poorer people always have the greatest burden of debt in this increasingly divided and unequal country. It’s called uncaring capitalism, the type practiced by Tory governments forever. They always say how they want a country that works for everyone and then go about ensuring it doesn’t.
I am not opposed to reasonable tuition fees. The levels under the last Labour government seemed fair and reasonable and I do not argue against students contributing towards their university education, otherwise you end up with the working classes who will not attend university subsiding those who do. If May was having a serious review, this might be a point of debate but this is not a serious review.
I am afraid I struggle with Labour’s promises to scrap all tuition fees for the very reason that we would have a form of Robin Hood in reverse. But again, let’s put the idea in the pot. If you have an inquiry, allow all options to be considered.
Student Finance isn’t working but then nothing Theresa May does works. Expect nothing much in a year’s time, always assuming May is still PM.
