The University Conundrum
Lord Mandelson crudely chose 3 days before Christmas to “bury bad news” by announcing slashing cuts to teaching staff at universities. The consequences will be far-reaching and damaging to our UK tertiary sector.
The cuts are as much as £135 million and universities were already ordered to find £180 million of cuts over 18 months earlier this year. So - for general election purposes - schools were given immunity from budget cuts in the Pre-Budget Review but universities are going to pay the price instead. This means that tuition fees will rise well above £3 225 per year as universities struggle to find the extra cash and more rich foreign students will be recruited to try to make up the shortfall - putting our students at a distinct disadvantage to the rest of the world.
So what went wrong? In my view, the Labour Government tried to be egalitarian too far too quickly and encouraged many institutions such as colleges to become universities to meet the Labour demand that all young people should have a university education without considering the needs of the UK economy and world demand. It is one thing having the degree but is it worth it with no graduate jobs available for many to go to?
All that Labour did was throw money at the problem without encouraging universities to analyse the needs of the economy. Now that things are financially desperate, Lord Mandelson’s cuts mean that many deserving students will be caught in the crossfire and we may lose out on a large number of potentially excellent graduates - either because of exhorbitant tuition fees or no lecturers to teach them.
Universities should be there to train students based on their educational abilities and not on the ability to pay. That is why I support free tuition fees because graduates will contribute and give back to the UK economy through taxation. But what you have now is a system where only the more well-off will be able to go to university and most students will be saddled with debt putting off the buying of homes for example. How does this help our economy?
If I was in charge of education - as this is my field - I would promote more apprenticeships as well as colleges that teach the skills that the economy needs. I would not spread the false notion that university is for everyone - rather that there are many other avenues and paths to education for the future. This would relieve the pressure on our universities providing free tuition to those who demonstrate the aptitude and ability to be successful graduates.
