Tuition fees should be scrapped - Lord Adonis
2 min read
Tuition fess should be scrapped as they have become “politically diseased” according to the former Government minister who introduced them.
Lord Adonis wrote in the Guardian that tuition fees had become a “Frankenstein’s Monsters” and accused the Government of running a ponzi scheme where some students could not repay loans.
“In my view, fees have now become so politically diseased, they should be abolished entirely,” Adonis writes in the Guardian.
The former New Labour minister said tuition fees had failed to improve the quality of teaching, but greedy Vice-Chancellors had happily rewarded themselves.
“[Vice-chancellors] increased their own pay and perks as fast as they increased tuition fees, and are now ‘earning’ salaries of £275,000 on average and in some cases over £400,000.
“Debt levels for new graduates are now so high that the Institute for Fiscal Studies estimates that three-quarters of graduates will never pay it all back. The Treasury will soon realise it is sitting on a Ponzi scheme,” Adonis writes.
Lord Adonis’ comments come after a damning report from the Institute for Fiscal Studies, which found the poorest students often have to repay £57000 in debt.
More than three quarters (77%) would fail to pay back their loans after a 30-year period.
However, the Government was quick to criticise Lord Adonis’ comments, and claimed tuition fees were progressive.
“The government consciously subsidises the studies of those who for a variety of reasons, including family responsibilities, may not repay their loans in full,” Universities minister Jo Johnson said.
“This is a vital and deliberate investment in the skills base of this country, not a symptom of a broken student finance system. And the evidence bears this out: young people from poorer backgrounds are now going to university at a record rate – up 43% since 2009.”
Angela Rayner, Labour’s shadow education secretary, said: “The government should listen to Andrew Adonis and take a long, hard look at the reality of higher education since their original tuition fee hike.
“Graduate debt is skyrocketing, with no end in sight, and students are facing a lifetime of debt with the taxpayer still picking up the bill at the end.”
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