Letter: Dearing blow to peace hope in Ulster
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Your support makes all the difference.Sir: There is a lot to be said for the Dearing recommendations, and for the response of the Government. The funds that fees will unlock will enable a new generation of students to receive a proper education and allow the salaries of academic staff to reflect their often unpaid training and long hours. Perhaps Britain will soon be better able to compete in the global economy.
But abolishing maintenance grants seems foolish, given the leverage they offer to get students from less wealthy backgrounds into higher education. The point of change should be not only to encourage high-quality higher education, but also to widen opportunity for those who are qualified to partake of it. Allowing the green-wellie student brigade to get off relatively debt-free while gifted students from poorer backgrounds may be deflected by the burden of later debt, seems like a recipe for retaining the current inequalities.
Finally, the Government has yet to address perhaps the most useful change that could come about - a two-year genuinely full-time degree course. Students would benefit by not having to scrounge for low-paid jobs during vacations, and there need be no compromise on quality.
ALEXANDER EVANS
Department of Politics
University of Bristol
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