This year we are facing the prospect of the government lifting the cap on top-up fees, which would mean universities could charge even higher fees than the current £3000 a year, creating an increasingly elitist education system and a more marketised sector.
Students are already saddled with years of debt, and lower income groups are poorly represented within higher education. The student maintenance loan barely covers three term’s rent, let alone the rising costs of food, and of course, study materials. In addition, interest rates on the student loan are so high that the majority of students will have years of financial difficulties after leaving university.
New studies show that three in four students are forced to take on part-time work to support their full-time studies, whilst some have had to drop out of university unable to afford to stay. Again, students from lower-income backgrounds are more likely to take on a high number of hours in paid employment than students from wealthier backgrounds, creating a big disadvantage.
What’s more, the sectors in which students work are some of the lowest paid, and studies by the TUC and NUS show that students are one of the most vulnerable groups when it comes to being exploited in the workplace.
One of my main priorities this year will be campaigning around these issues – against the lifting of the cap and to promote student rights in the workplace. The growing problems around student debt, deprivation, exploitation and the threat of increasing fees requires a mass movement of students nationally to campaign for a change in system of education funding.
In addition to these national issues, at our own institution we are faced with a Strategic Review that I think accentuates the marketisation issue, and that may create considerable disruption to students on affected courses.
Engaging in the national movement against the marketisation of our education, whilst striving to ensure that the welfare of our own students is the top priority of the University, over and above other agendas, will be of key importance.
