Fight for Funding not Fees
Jess Evans, Liverpool Socialist Party
Coinciding with the launch of Socialist Students’ “Funding not fees” campaign comes a hard-hitting new report. For the first time in a decade, there has been a fall in the number of ‘disadvantaged’ students reaching university. The Department for Education has released figures showing that 29% of students eligible for free school meals aged 15 progress onto university aged 19. The figure has fallen for the first time since records began in 2005-06. It is clear the capitalist education system is harming social mobility – a socialist transformation is needed.
Poverty is one of the most important factors for educational outcomes. A study has shown that children who experience persistent disadvantages on average leave school a staggering 22 months behind their peers, attainment wise. Issues related to poverty – poor nutrition, a lack of access to technology, lack of a quiet room to study due to overcrowding, looking after siblings and many more – all hinder a child’s ability to flourish and do well in school.
The number of children living in poverty in the UK has increased by over 700,000 since 2010, to 4.3 million. It is obvious that the Tories’ austerity warpath and capitalist crisis have plunged more children into poor living conditions. And without a mass working-class party armed with a programme to fight poverty, many more children are going to be denied access to education.
Private schools
Another crucial aspect is that your likelihood to enter university is dependent on which kind of school you went to. 67.2% of private school pupils gained places at elite Russell Group universities, compared with 34.2% of state school pupils. It is abhorrent that you can simply pay your way to university. Keir Starmer needs to go further than simply charging VAT on these schools’ tuition fees. Private schools need to be abolished completely, and their resources put under the democratic control of local councils – alongside all schools, including academies.
In response to this report, there have been calls for prestigious universities to accept more working-class, state-educated students. Whilst an important aspect, poverty does not simply disappear when you get to university. More university students are having to skip meals and work extra jobs, at a real risk to their attainment and ability to finish their courses.
The marketisation and consumerisation of higher education has meant students are living in rat-infested accommodation, charged extortionate rent, transport and food costs. Marketisation needs to be kicked out of our universities, with living grants not debt that students can live on with free education for all. If you want to join the fight against increased tuition fees, for the funding that universities and students need for a proper, free education, join Socialist Students.
