No fees, no future

Published on 05/10/2012 00:00

Scotland is the only country in the UK with no tuition fees for university students. Wales and Northern Ireland both have fees in the £3,000-£4,000 range, which seem reasonable to me.

I attended university in the 1960s when there were no fees and students got grants when their parents’ incomes were below a certain level. This was financially possible since only about 5 per cent of school leavers went to university.

This figure has increased to about 50 per cent and includes those who go to former polytechnics which have been elevated to university status. This is a ridiculously high level, well in excess of requirements for students educated to degree standard, and is unsustainable in funding terms.

All this has to be paid for and part is coming from swingeing cuts of close to 20 per cent for local institutions such as Borders College in Galashiels, where classes have been cut and staff reduced.

This has lessened the chances of the young in particular getting a job, with fewer courses to help them get qualifications. Evening classes have been similarly hit, with my Scottish history class now costing £80 a term, double what it cost a few years ago, the result being fewer participants and classes not running due to low numbers.

Of course, if Scotland becomes independent no students in the rest of the UK will pay any fees and the chickens will then properly come home to roost in terms of finance required by the Scottish Government if it continues with its current no-fees policy.

I shudder to think what cuts it will have to make in other areas in order to fund free tuition for the vast majority of students attending Scottish universities.

The Scottish Government has very entrenched positions on tuition fees. Good government means being prepared to change position when the facts change. Clinging blindly to previously stated policies will not encourage Scots to vote for independence when the time comes.

JW Watt

Castle Street

Selkirk