| Sadiq: I'll vote against tuition fee increase |
| Tuesday, 07 December 2010 12:06 |
|
Sadiq's letter to readers of the Wandsworth Guardian: To the Editor, On Thursday I will be voting against proposals to lift the cap on tuition fees, which will effectively treble them to £9000 per year, and put higher education out of reach for thousands of young people in Wandsworth and across the country. In recent weeks I have been approached by many local students, potential students and parents about the Coalition Government’s cuts to higher education, who are worried about what this vote will mean for their futures, and their children’s futures. As somebody who grew up on a council estate in Tooting, the prospect of having to pay £27,000 or £36,000 in fees alone (let paying living costs) would have scared me off getting a degree. This is exactly how many young people already feel about these proposals. The principle that education should be publically funded and affordable is what got me where I am today. This government doesn’t seem to agree - these cuts aren’t being made out of pragmatism, they’re being made because the coalition government doesn’t believe we have a collective responsibility to fund a higher education system that benefits us all. Teaching budgets are being cut by 80% – above and beyond the level of cuts any other public service or government department has been forced to make (the average across all departments is 19%). Humanities degrees and social sciences will no longer receive any public funding for teaching at all. Local students are worried that they won’t be able to afford to go to university any more. They’re worried they’ll have to scrap their dreams of going to the best universities, which will charge the highest fees. They’re worried that if they do take a huge financial risk and go, their degrees will be worth less are universities are forced to cut back on teaching and standards fall. I can reassure local readers that I will be standing up for students, present and future, and their parents, and voting against these proposals on Thursday. I’d welcome the support of other local MPs against these plans, which amount to nothing less than a betrayal of the next generation. Yours faithfully, Sadiq Khan
|
Promoted by Tooting Labour Party on behalf Sadiq Khan and Tooting Labour Party, all of 273 Balham High Road, London, SW17 7BD. Hosted by 34SP.com, 349 Bury Old Road, Manchester, M25 1PY.
