Tuition
fees for students have gone in Scotland. They
should go here in England too.
Student fees are both unfair and economically
damaging. They are effectively a "student
poll tax", and, by discouraging people from
going to university, they are undermining
Britain’s long term economic prosperity.
Tuition fees were brought in by Mr. Blair’s
Government. Labour’s manifesto did not
mention them, but their MPs did not seem to care.
Despite a huge battle in Parliament led by the
Liberal Democrats, fees were forced through.
By introducing charges for higher education, the
Government breached an important principle: that
our system of state education, like the NHS,
should be free at the point of use.
I believe free state education must be defended.
Education is the best way to provide real
opportunities to all people, no matter what their
family circumstances are. Education is the
bedrock of a fair and meritocratic society.
So it is a huge economic policy mistake to raise
the cost of education with student fees, just
when we need more people to become better
educated. |
I am
proud that my Liberal Democrat colleagues in the
Scottish Government forced their Labour coalition
partners to end tuition fees, as promised in the
Lib Dem manifesto – and at the same time,
improved bursaries for the poorest students. I
hope our campaign to abolish the student poll tax
in England now gathers support.
There are already too many charges for adult
education and training, without ending free
tuition in our colleges and universities. And
once a Government brings in a new charge, it will
soon want to raise it and extend it. Parents and
future students, you have been warned!
But investment in education is also the best
economic policy a country can have.
Economists often argue why one country’s
economy performs better than another’s.
Theories include macroeconomic management,
banking systems, the stability of political
institutions and so on. Yet the only convincing
argument is the importance of education.
Societies that educate all their people, and
educate them well, tend to have stronger
economies.
In the new global economy, where exploiting
technology will be central to economic success,
surely the importance of education will be even
greater? |
