Scots universities need tuition fees, says top professor

Published on Monday 12 October 2009 22:07

ONE of Scotland's leading academics has called for the Scottish Government to reverse its policy of scrapping tuition fees for students north of the Border.

James Mitchell, professor of politics at Strathclyde University, criticised MSPs and university administrators for failing to take a lead over the loss of fees as a source of income.

Writing in today's Scotsman, Professor Mitchell blames the Liberal Democrats for the policy, accusing them of being an "ideologically lite party of middle-class interests".

Scrapping fees was a "mistake" Prof Mitchell says, leaving universities lacking a source of income without any compensatory funds in its place.

Upfront tuition fees, at a flat rate of 1,000, were introduced across the UK in 1998 by Tony Blair's government. They were abolished in Scotland in 2000, after a review of university funding by Dr Andrew Cubie.

Prof Mitchell's comments echo those of Lord Sutherland, former head of Universities Scotland and ex-principal of Edinburgh University, who last month called for fees to be brought back in Scotland.

Prof Mitchell said: "Opponents will argue that there is a consensus against tuition fees when, in fact, there is at best only acquiescence in a policy because of a lack of leadership.

"The Scottish Parliament made an early decision that needs to be looked at again. It was a mistake. It is likely that it will take many years to reverse. But that process needs to begin."

However, critics baulked at back-tracking on the policy.

National Union of Students Scotland president Liam Burns said:

"There certainly is a consensus against tuition fees in Scotland, as hundreds of thousands of students, parents, lecturers and politicians will testify."

Many lecturers argue fees are not the solution. Tony Axon, of the University and College Union, said: "The complicated system introduced in England has failed students and failed to deliver the increase in resource. The Scottish Parliament has delivered increased funding by prioritising education."

Liberal Democrats education spokeswoman Margaret Smith said: "We are proud of the integral part we played in getting rid of tuition fees in Scotland."

A Scottish Government spokesman said: "As Steve Smith of Universities UK said recently, the issue is almost completely irrelevant in Scotland."

Scots colleges asked how student hardship is handled

THE body which funds further and higher education in Scotland has written to every college to find out how they are coping with financially struggling students.

The Scottish Funding Council (SFC) sent letters on Friday asking all 43 colleges how much they had given to student support this year.

It is a process used every year to reallocate money which is underspent at institutions, and give it to those colleges which need it most.

However, this year it is expected the money will be used up faster than usual because of the increased demand for student places.

An enormous surge in applications earlier this year, in some colleges by 300 per cent, has been attributed to fewer jobs for school-leavers and large numbers of older people losing their jobs seeking to retrain.

A spokesman for the SFC said: "Colleges are very much under the cosh, despite increases of funding, so we are increasing student support. But colleges are still under pressure and some have already spent what they have.

"There is anecdotal evidence about how difficult it is for some colleges, but until we get responses, that's all we have."

The deadline for the responses is the end of this month and redistribution of money is expected to take place in a few months.