The Tuition Fees Debacle

Well, last week reminded me of The Smiths and that famous song: "Panic on the Streets of London" or perhaps Kaiser Chiefs "I predict a riot" was more appropriate! The Coalition Government has announced tuition fees of £9,000 per year, which led to protests outside Conservative Headquarters. interestingly Liberal Democrat Headquarters on Cowley Street didn't suffer the same unrest, despite the castration of Liberal MPs in the press over the last few weeks. We will see if this is just a symptom of a wider movement of unrest against the cuts. I suspect that it won't and comparisons with riots during the 1980s will prove to be unfounded. There isn't widespread protest against this policy,but largely confined to students themselves (actually very few of the protesters will be affected by the policy)

As a Liberal Democrat, in an ideal world it would be great to have all education free, but the fact remains we do not live in an ideal world and a contribution by graduates (we should note that these fees are not upfront and will only be paid back once graduates are earning over £21,000) sadly is unavoidable in the present climate. One argument against is that the people in the cabinet taking the decision did not have to pay when they went. However, when Vince Cable attended less than 10% of 18 year olds went to university. The figure is now close to 40% and so the system of funding could not remain as it was given the deficit. That is the harsh reality. What I do not understand is why those Liberal MPs signed those pledges?  The Lib Dems have had a reality check over the last fortnight concerning the realities of power and many Liberal MPs may suffer as a result next time. However, attacks from the Labour party look pretty pathetic given they introduced fees in the first place and can't seem to agree on a policy in any event. Ed Miliband looks pretty ineffective over this.

In fact, my view is that the coalition government have correctly put the focus back onto where resources should be spent in education at this time. The Liberal Democrat policy of the Pupil Premium to concentrate resources on the most disadvantaged in society is right and in early years (a bright poorer child will be overtaken by the age of 7 by a wealthier less bright child in our society). Plus Vince Cable has been right to consider how we improve Adult education so that people from lower income backgrounds keep their skills up to date in a fast changing world.

Economic and Social Liberals all agree that education is one of the surest ways to real freedom so that individuals can realise their potential. The recent policy announcement is not perfect. I am for one do not believe that the government has adequately addressed the issue of encouraging more people from disadvantaged backgrounds to attend university, but I do believe that the best has been done in difficult circumstances. I fear if this has been a purely a Conservative policy with no Liberal influence, it could have been far worse.