The Tory Party website is full of higher and further education policy, which would be put in to law if the Conservatives are returned to power at the next general election, says the party’s website.
Educationet.org has publicised that the National Union of Students opposes the Tories’ plans to abolish all fees and has critsised the NUS National Executive for being politically biased. So what do London’s students think?
Well, we don’t need a straw poll to tell you that students (current and future) relish the idea of having all fees being removed – a tax which has been imposed to fund the cash crises in higher education. At the most recent Annual Conference of the Mature Students Union, the Tories spokesman on higher education promised that the Conservatives would get rid of “OfToff” (the Access Regulator), the 50% participation target and also all “taxes on learning”. Tim Boswell MP, member of Parliament for Daventry also commented that “the cure the government was proposing was worse than the disease that the government had already created.” [[ULU Council Report here from Exec Officers]|http://pc136.ulu.lon.ac.uk/ulucouncil/seventh.pdf]
Boswell also cited that it was a shame that the White Paper (on the Future of Higher Education) did not consider the non-academic salaries and workload.
The other two main political parties represented at the MSU conference were represented by Margaret Hodges’ parliamentary private secretary, Mike Foster and by the Liberal Democrats’ David Rendel. [[Margaret Hodge now is Minister of State for Children]|http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/2989334.stm]
Foster told Conference that “graduates get more money, better training and better health care” and that “spin-out companies are getting more business and research” due to graduates. Foster wishes to see more participation from other “postcodes” in higher education and stated that the proposed Access Regulator would “penalise Universities which did not recruit students from disadvantaged backgrounds”.
Rendel for the Lib Dems noted that although there was a graduate premium in salaries, he also noted that female graduates still received a smaller salary by proportion. He cited the Open University’s success, and stated that the future of higher education lay with degrees build on more modular foundations, with students being able to chose “a la carte” which courses they should do from different institutions”, being able to move around the country over time to complete their studies.
So what do students, in the future want? Well, students today are probably just glad they are not going to be skinned more by Blair, a hope that is fading for next year’s and the year after’s intake. But the future will all be decided by Parliament in the Autumn and ultimately at the next general election.
So what are students’ views? Do the Tories’ pledges hold weight with our current and future students? The Tories certainly seem to have the most clear policy at the moment and the upper-hand. But will that all change in the run up to the next election?
[Editor's note: The author is a member of the Conservative party - but "only at weekends".]
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