Leeds students have spoken out against a radical shakeup of higher education which would see the existing cap on tuition fees lifted.
Students have backed Leeds North West MP Greg Mulholland's opposition to a rise in fees. Mulholland is the ringleader of a backbench rebellion aiming to derail proposals that universities should be allowed to decide what they charge students.
A new system of financing universities will allow for a 10% increase in student places to meet rising demand for a degree-level education, the Browne review proposes.
Students voiced their concerns about students being priced out of university places during a live debate on Channel 4 News last night. The debate, held at the University of Leeds, was briefly interrupted by protesters live on air.
'Interruption was childish'
Liam Challenger, president of Leeds Metropolitan University Students' Union who was at the debate, said this morning:
"Everybody has a right to democratically voice their opinion how they want, however the interruption was childish. They weren't actually students, but socialist campaigners who want education free for all."
Challenger said the next step of the students' campaign would be to lobby rebel Liberal Democrat MPs to ensure they vote aganst the proposals in the review. He said any increase in tuition fees will prove politically for the Liberal Democrats, who signed a pre-election pledge drawn up by the National Union of Students (NUS) to vote against any fee increase.
In a joint statement issued yesterday by Leeds University Union and Leeds Met Union, Challenger praised Greg Mulholland's stance on the issue. He added:
"We would like to thank Greg Mulholland for his courageous stance against higher fees. At such a troubling time for potential students and parents, it is extremely encouraging to have the support of an MP who remains truthful to his manifesto pledges.
"The NUS Vote for Students Pledge was signed by all Lib Dem MPs currently with a seat in Parliament, and, those who signed, promised to 'vote against a rise in tuition fees'.
"The current coalition agreement allows Lib Dem MPs to abstain on that vote, and so we thank Greg Mulholland for truly representing the voice of his student constituency and voting against a rise in tuition fees."
Mulholland refuses support
Mulholland told The Guardian in a post on Comment is Free:
"Some of the proposals I welcome because of their progressive nature, such as graduates paying in accordance with how much they earn and not having to pay back anything until they earn over £21,000. However, the idea of increasing tuition fees by such a large amount is something I refuse to support."
There's a piece on both sides of the tuition fees debate over at Channel Four.
Included in the Browne review is:
• A 10% increase in university places
• Graduates to start repaying the cost of their degrees when they earn £21,000 a year or more – up from £15,000
• Removal of the cap on tuition fees of £3,290 per year
• Universities that charge more than £6,000 a year in fees will have to give a proportion of their extra income to supporting poorer students
• Universities that charge more than £7,000 will be scrutinised to ensure they widen access
All the main points from the review can be found here.
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