Letter: Tuition mistakes

I hope Michael Russell and the SNP government can hold their nerve in the face of the weasel words of the other parties who are eager to burden Scottish undergraduates with fees and debts to ensure we toe the Unionist line.

Heaven forbid we should cleave to the greatest traditions of Scottish education - egalitarian and free to lads (and, eventually) lassies o' pairts, with several ancient universities (including two in Aberdeen) when England had only Oxford and Cambridge.

Capping, or removing, fees for Scottish-born students while charging non-Scottish students seems entirely sensible.

After all, Scots who choose an English university will have to pay full whack.

Time, perhaps, to realise that the wise words of Professor VH Galbraith, an Englishman, in 1944 are even more pertinent today - "The future of Scotland lies in the tremendous development of its own affairs… No proposal with regard to education which comes up here from England is worth a damn to you."

David Roche

Forest Way

Blairgowrie

On closer inspection, I freely admit that the weight of evidence does not support my claim (Letters, 18 December) that the planned imposition of much higher tuition fees on English students is ethnic targeting.

I am glad to find myself in the wrong on this occasion since policies along ethnic lines are not going to get us out of the perilous economic situation that affects all parts of these islands.

I would also suggest that there is now an opportunity for the SNP to craft a policy on education refreshingly different from that in the rest of the UK; it would be one that aims to provide opportunities for many young people to obtain skills and knowledge that equips them for a productive adulthood without needing to follow the university route.

(Prof) Tom Gallagher

Department of Peace Studies

University of Bradford

Bradford