The Live Wire



Press Release

University tuition fees

3 November 2010

Commenting on the coalition government's response to Lord Browne's funding review of universities, Christine Blower, general secretary of the National Union of Teachers, the largest teachers' union, said;

"The cutbacks to university funding announced in the spending review show that yet again the coalition government's argument that the 'broadest shoulders' will carry the burden is a complete fallacy. Raising tuition fees up to £9,000 to compensate for the lack of funding will create further social divisions in society and set us back decades to a time when university education was available only to the well off.

"There are very few working class families that will countenance incurring such huge debt. Despite having invested the same time and commitment to their studies, students from poorer backgrounds will be saddled with repaying more than they borrowed for the next 30 years while wealthy students could have the whole debt paid off immediately. This is not a level playing field by any stretch of the imagination and will act as a further deterrent to many entering higher education.

"It's quite clear that our elite universities are by no means inclusive now and the whole package of measures from the comprehensive spending review, which will hit the poorest hardest in conjunction with these fee proposals, will do nothing to change that.

"There will need to be a great deal of soul-searching by MPs before the debate and vote on this issue in the House of Commons, particularly amongst the Liberal Democrats who campaigned so vigorously against a rise in tuition fees."



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National Union of Teachers

National Union of Teachers

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