Let’s talk about tuition fees

On Wednesday I spent a few hours with the students at Woking College. It was a very enlightening few hours talking to them about their feelings and concerns for the future. One of the biggest fears that students and their parents have today is the level of debt that they will be left with then finish their higher education.

This is why I was pleased with Nick Clegg’s comments this week:

“The Liberal Democrats are different. Not only will we oppose any raising of the cap, we will scrap tuition fees for good, including for part-time students. We can’t do it overnight, but we can start straight away with students in their final year – that way means anyone at university this autumn will have their debt cut by at least £3,000. Students can make the difference in countless seats in this election. Use your vote to block those unfair tuition fees and get them scrapped once and for all.”

Under the current system of tuition fees and both Labour and the Conservative plans to raise tuition fees further over the next 5 years, students could be saddled with debts as high as £44,000. Only the Liberal Democrats are committed to scrapping tuitions fees altogether and oppose any attempt to raise them.

Leader Nick Clegg said: “Labour and the Conservatives have been trying to keep tuition fees out of this election campaign. It’s because they don’t want to come clean with you about what they’re planning. Despite the huge financial strain fees already place on Britain’s young people, it is clear both Labour and the Conservatives want to lift the cap on fees. If fees rise to £7,000 a year, as many rumours suggest they would, within five years some students will be leaving university up to £44,000 in debt. That would be a disaster. If we have learnt one thing from the economic crisis, it is that you can’t build a future on debt.”

We all want our children to do well and have the opportunity to go into higher and further education. The proposals to raise tuition fees will serve only to ensure that only a chosen few get that opportunity. Once again this government and the Conservative opposition are trying to fix the system so that those from poorer backgrounds and on lower incomes do not get the chance they deserve, regardless of how academically qualified they may be.

As someone who has championed the rights of the young throughout my service in Woking, I will be campaigning strongly on this issue in the months and years to come.