Il the ministers who are pushing A
through student top-up fees were educated at no cost to themselves: they paid no fees, and instead of loans they had grants. Those of us who paid for their education with our taxes, could feel that we wasted our money: they don't appear to be able to use even simple arithmetic.
The truth is they are just a group of conmen and women, who are manipulating the figures to conceal the costs of their policies..
The first question is when it is said that new graduates could wind up with "upo to" €21,000 of debt, where does the figure of €21,000 come from? It covers £12,000 of loans over three years and £9,000 of fees, at the top universities. Does anybody really not believe that the vast majority of universities won't charge the full amount? If not, they won't be able to compete.
Look how this stacks up. £4,000 a year of loans will just about cover the rent, and household bills in many cities, most lodgings charge for the whole year. How is the student supposed to live? Food, books, travel ...
At present the fees are up front, and almost every non-mature student has their fees paid by their parents. They then have to pay for food, books, travel and entertainment. Where does this money come from?
Some comes from working, often while they should be studying: the rest comes from parents, or most commonly, running up debts. These are in banks' student facilities, card debts, or simply borrowing from parents. So even now many students have debts towards the £21,000 mark, without the extra £9,000.
Not only does the Government underplay the debt from this angle, but they also produce figures that give the impression that many people won't need to pay the fees, or will get a grant, that will help the poor get to university.
They are only able to get away with this manipulation because it is only in the last two years that the first students have graduated after receiving no grant at all.
Ministers claim that at the moment 50 percent of university students pay no fees. This means that their parents' joint income is less than £20,000. Government figures Numbers of students from the poorest families going to university have halved under New Labour -from 13% of students in 199| to just 7% in 2000 €24,000. So where are these people? middle class? A state of mind? • • income is less than €10,000? lege. Finally on the effects. realistic. have to repay f60 a month. mately 100 years to repay the debt. enough to pay it all off? say that average earnings, per person, are
The present position is that 75 percent of students come from middle class families. In 2006. other words at least one third of these must be sharing household income of less than €20,000. This makes no sense. What is
Ministers have claimed that one third of
sycal. students will get the £1,000 grant available to the very poorest. To receive this the JOINT parents income has to be below £10,000. The vast majority of working class students' parents earn more than this: it is equivalent to one person working full time on the minimum wage. Can ministers
for students. expect us to believe that in a large number
As socialists we of middle class families the joint parent must build this
opposition to
Either the figures are fraudulent, or fraud New Labour's is taking place, or the government is going bankrupt polices to stop the middle classes from going to col- and build a
strong united front against top up fees. It is vital that
Let us assume for a minute that the
the student Government's figure of £21,000 debt is
movement is Education Secretary Charles united. The Clarke says that a civil servant would only
Labour government are falterRemember that the loans charge inter- ing and backing est, at the rate of inflation, from the moment that the first money is received. White Paper. (This alone would make the debt more than €21,000 when you finished your course).
At £60 per month, it would take approxistudents can win.
Maybe the government will make provision for the debt to be inherited by future generations, or maybe they will improve the NHS so that graduates will live long