Graduate tax 'not ruled out' for Scots students

EDUCATION Secretary Mike Russell has been in talks with student leaders over the prospect of a graduate tax and has admitted he is "not ruling out" the levy.

• Mike Russell has called for a 'vigorous' discussion on the thorny issue of higher-education funding

In an exclusive interview with The Scotsman, Mr Russell said he has had "good conversations" with the National Union of Students (NUS) over the tax and wants "freedom" for a wider debate to take place on the issue.

Mr Russell said he will consider any measure to fund universities including a graduate tax, but has ruled out upfront fees.

He said: "The NUS has talked about the graduate tax, I've had good conversations with the NUS, but I'm not ruling anything out."

Concern over higher-education funding has been growing in recent years with cuts expected to hit public services, and increasing numbers of students putting pressure on university budgets. Mr Russell said he had discussions with a wide range of groups over the options for funding universities, including the graduate tax.

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He added: "I want to give the freedom for a debate to take place. I am listening, I am talking and thinking. There's a really interesting set of discussions taking place out there.

"I would welcome views from the opposition as well as ours. I'm not going to put myself in the position of espousing one way forward at this stage. But I will do."

Mr Russell added: "I've ruled nothing out and nothing in. The difficulty with the graduate tax in Scotland is that the parliament presently does not have that power."

Asked if extra powers for Holyrood would enable the Scottish Government to impose a graduate tax, Mr Russell said: "Opinion is divided on whether that could happen or not. It's a question probably better addressed to the coalition than to me. All I know is that presently we do not have the power to have a graduate tax."

It is understood that any graduate tax considered by the Scottish Government would need to include a so-called "sunset clause" - to end payments at some point in graduates' careers so they do not pay too much.

Mr Russell promised a green paper at the end of the year on university funding but again ruled out the independent review political opponents have demanded.

He said: "My aim is to find the long-term, sustainable future of higher education in Scotland.

"I have only ruled one thing out, which is top-up fees, and I've done that partly because I don't think they are a good idea, but actually because the logical argument against them gets stronger every day.

"What they are is an upfront payment for something you are not sure you will have delivered - you could drop out, something could happen, you could not earn money.

"We need to have a vigorous and good discussion in Scotland about what the solutions are and we are having those discussions.

"I am against an independent review, and parliament voted against it, too, because it would just kick things into the long grass."

However, he warned a range of measures would be required.

Mr Russell said: "There is no magic bullet; this debate is often conducted on the basis there is just one thing we will find and it will all happen."

Claire Baker, Labour's higher education spokeswoman, said the SNP government was "openly admitting" its current approach to university funding was "unsustainable" and repeated calls for an independent review.

She said: "To find a long-lasting solution, we need to take the debate on university funding out of the hands of political parties and give it to the people who are in the sector and benefit from our magnificent universities."

The Conservatives described the higher education sector as under "enormous" financial pressure and backed a student contribution.

Education spokeswoman Liz Smith said: "We do not believe that the current funding structures can be maintained. There needs to be a much better balance between the contributions made by the taxpayer and those made by our students."

She added: "We are, as a party, likely to be persuaded by the need for some kind of a deferred-fee payment to be made by graduates once they have completed their education."

University lecturers, however, were against the measure.

Mary Senior, Scottish official for the University and College Union (UCU), said: "We welcomed the decision of the SNP government to abolish the graduate endowment a couple of years ago.

"Students and parents will not want to see the cost of a university education increasing with any new graduate tax proposals."

Universities Scotland, the umbrella body which represents principals, has a body set up to examine future funding and has commissioned an economist to report on the issue.

A spokesman said: "We are being as open-minded as possible."

In a wide-ranging interview with The Scotsman, Mr Russell also described this week's implementation of the Curriculum for Excellence as having gone "smoothly". He said teachers to whom he had spoken described the move as "no big deal".

Introduction of the new system has been billed as the biggest change in Scottish schooling ever.

However, he admitted when he came to the job, there were aspects which needed "tweaking" such as better communication with parents.

Classroom unions disagreed. Ann Ballinger, general-secretary of the Scottish Secondary Teachers Association, said: "I was speaking to a group of primary teachers from Dundee just last night and they were saying just the opposite. I don't think implementation of the curriculum this week has gone badly because people are being professional, but there seems to be a lot of confusion about what they are supposed to be doing.

"Teachers are worried that if they aren't getting it right, they are damaging children."

Meanwhile, new qualifications set to replace the discredited Standard grade will go ahead as planned in 2014, the education secretary declared, after he revealed talks with Scotland's exam board, the SQA, this week.

Mr Russell said the new Nationals will stick to the original timetable despite Scotland's biggest teaching union, the EIS, demanding a year's delay.

He said: "I spent an hour with the SQA board yesterday and we discussed their timetable, and they assure me that's achievable."

But Ronnie Smith, EIS general secretary, said: "Many teachers have serious concerns regarding the new National qualifications. The first pupils who will sit these exams are in our secondary schools now, yet schools cannot give them a clear idea of what these qualifications will look like or precisely how they will be assessed."

The challenge now is not just for the SNP but the other parties, too, to say what they would do. Labour has a particular responsibility. Page 32