Link to this page: http://www.socialistparty.org.uk/issue/231/9250
From The Socialist newspaper, 23 November 2001
Student Grants: New Labour's Second Thoughts
NEW LABOUR are, it seems, already backing off from their proposals to introduce a grant for some students. In recent weeks the government was said to be looking at alternatives to the current funding system, including the scrapping of up-front fees.
Kieran Roberts
They had been forced to do this by the massive opposition to fees and the abolition of the grant since they were introduced. However, their plans for an alternative system promised little improvement for students. For many they would make their situation worse.
Even the proposed grant was extremely limited and would be received only by students whose parents earn less than £10,000.
Given the minimal nature of that concession, New Labour's reluctance to implement it shows just how much they want to avoid spending anything at all on students' education costs.
But they're also having second thoughts about introducing a graduate tax, which they rightly believe could become very unpopular, as up-front fees have done. After all, such a system would still leave graduates in thousands of pounds of debt.
The one thing the government is definitely still committed to introducing is market rates of interest on students' loans. This alone could have a devastating effect on debt-laden graduates.
All the confusion over the future of fees and the grant shows the urgent need for students to build a mass movement against fees and for a living grant to guarantee a system of free education.
Why not click here to join the Socialist Party, or click here to donate to the Socialist Party.
In The Socialist 23 November 2001:
Taliban's Defeat Won't Liberate Women
WTO Policies Increase Wealth Gap
50,000 Demo Answers War Propaganda
War In Afghanistan: Paying the Price of 'Victory'
Management attack civil service safety campaigners
Student Grants: New Labour's Second Thoughts
The Socialist Party And The Socialist Alliance
Home | The Socialist 23 November 2001 | Join the Socialist Party
Join us today!
Printable version
email to friend
