NUT on Tuition Fees

Tuesday, 26 April 2011 12:00 AM

Christine Blower, General Secretary of the National Union of Teachers, the largest teachers' union, said;

"The raising of tuition fees is a manipulative tool that will divide society into those for whom education is a right and those for whom it is simply an unaffordable and unthinkable dream. This move will take us back decades in term of social mobility at a time when the Government is claiming to be champions of such social mobility. Their policies, unfortunately, are completely at odds with their rhetoric.

"The Government's higher education policy is in tatters. They said that fees of £9,000 per year would be the exception but every day £9,000 is looking increasingly like the norm. At the same time they are slashing teaching funding and axing state support for languages, arts and humanities degrees.

"At a time when youth unemployment is at 20%, the Government should be actively encouraging continued participation in education rather than hiking fees and cutting university budgets.

"The Government has already felt the political backlash. That, however, is of little comfort to the students who now face leaving university with astronomical debt or not going at all.

"The NUT will continue to work with our partners in UCU and will be seeking an early meeting with the new NUS President Liam Burns to discuss campaigning against the Government's short-sighted higher education policy."

ENDS

For further details contact Caroline Cowie on 0207 380 4706 or 07879480061

Tags: