For centuries the Scottish education system has fiercely
maintained itself as an independent entity at all levels and has been seen by
many as superior to that of England and Wales. After devolution the Scottish
Parliament was granted responsibility for Scottish education and with this for administering
the associated fees and benefits. The Labour-Liberal Democrat coalition scrapped
tuition fees in favour of a one off graduate endowment payment, it was £2,289
when scrapped, and paid at the end of a course once a student was earning over
£15,000 per year.
During the 2007
election campaign the SNP put a large focus on the issue of student debt. They
promised to scrap the endowment fee which they promptly carried out once they
were elected. However in reality this represented a betrayal of Scottish students,
and the bare minimum that the new Scottish Government could possibly get away
with. During the campaign the SNP had promised in their election material and
broadcasts that they were going to scrap the existing debt yet, along with
other promises regarding education, such as smaller class sizes, this has been
shelved. If this policy had been followed through it would have included
transferring £1.9 billion (http://www.journal-online.co.uk/articles/show/2691 )
of loans into grants. It was also strongly indicated that the existing
structure would be changed to follow suit with this shift. Instead only very
minor concessions were granted and the loan system remains in place.
In many ways it is true that Scottish students studying in
Scotland are in a far more favourable position than their English counterparts.
We do not have to pay tuition fees, and with the endowment fee scrapped, there
are no longer any fees associated directly with studying at university. However
there are still huge debts incurred when studying and the student loan system
for Scottish students is far less generous than the English one. Students
studying in England are entitled to 75% of the maximum loan, with interest
being incurred at the rate of inflation. In Scotland the entitlement for most students
is far lower than this. Most of the loan is income assessed, which means that
generally students with two parents that work full time, even in relatively low
paid jobs, will receive less than they would in England.
This creates a massive problem in that studying for many is
taken out of their hands and put into their parents’ or their banks’. Under the
English system a student is at least assured of being able to afford to study
even if they are burdened with a huge debt afterwards. With the system in place
in Scotland being able to study depends on the good will of parents or that of
banks to lend the money to put them through education. If the latter option is
chosen then the debt that is run up is of course far more severe than a student
loan; banks do not lend money out of social need and charge high interest rates
on their loans. Banks also do not wait until their debtors are earning over
£15000 a year to ask for loans to be paid back. This means that some Scottish
students face paying back loans with a high interest rate, when they are by any
reasonable standard unable to do so.
During to the Scottish Government in 2006 the average
student left a Scottish university with a debt of £13,000. (http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2007/07/geabolition)
This is approximately half the annual wage of a skilled worker. In such a situation
it is hardly surprising that potential students from a low income background
would choose not to enter higher education. For the first time in centuries the
amount of young Scots in higher education has fallen for a sustained period.
Between 2001-2002 and 2005-2006 the number of young Scots in higher education
fell from 51.1% to 47.1% (http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2007/07/geabolition).
This is a massive regression, given that the previous fifty years or so in
particular have been characterised by working class people being able to attend
university. However, this may only be the tip of the iceberg. In the current
climate of a massive increase in the cost of living, high inflation and a
relative fall in wages, not to mention the creeping threat of unemployment,
there is the ever present danger of universities becoming yet again
institutions reserved for the sons and daughters of the well to do.
The problems faced by Scottish students are part of a
similar trend that is being followed throughout Britain. While there are
obvious differences between the Scottish and English set-ups the problems for
working class students in both is fundamentally the same. In the absence of a
decent grant systems students are forced to rely on loans or support from
parents and to work and potentially compromise their studies to support
themselves through university.
The question of grants is at root a political one;
they were originally won under the pressure of the labour movement and were
reversed by the Thatcher government. It is only through mobilisation and
struggle that students can hope to reclaim them. The fact that potential
centres of student militancy such as the University of Glasgow operate outside
the NUS is a barrier to enabling this to happen. The NUS may not be militant at
present, but it is the only umbrella organisation within which students can
mobilise. In recent years the NUS was able to launch a limited but ultimately
successful campaign against upfront fees in English universities. In many ways
this was done in spite of the NUS leadership rather than at its behest. Only
through a national campaign fighting for the abolition of all fees and decent grants
for all students in education, mobilising across all the major universities and
also reaching out to colleges, schools and the wider labour movement can the
right to free universal education truly be guaranteed.
