Laying Waste To The Future

Now it has been confirmed that the majority of Universities will be seeking to charge the full £9,000pa for courses next year can anyone really say they're surprised? Universities have been forced to run like businesses since the 1980s. Corporate sponsorship and overseas marketing have become the norm. Those departments that do not teach "useful" subjects (and by that they mean commercially viable) live in constant fear of the axe. Meanwhile the drive to get research funded by external sponsorship is inevitably tainted by the risk of conflicting interests.

Against such a backgroud it is no surprise whatsoever that potential students are faced with the prospect of up to £40,000 debt! Unsurprisingly, this is putting people off studying (over 50% according to one survey). Once again unsurprisingly, this is more pronounced in poorer households. For politicians to express surprise over this is either an indication of dishonesty or incompetence.

There are alternatives. There are always alternatives. Introducing a Robin Hood Tax. Not bombing foreign countries on a whim. Investing in skills to place the UK at the heart of the hi-tech economy rather than the arse-end of the service economy. So it IS a political decision. It ISN'T an unavoidable fact of life. It is an act of political spite.

The upper classes already have the expectation that they will go to university and do well. They already have the ability to go to university without plunging themselves or their families into debt. Of course innovation can come from all strata of society. But even then the upper classes have the advantage of capital - so they can exploit and profit from the good ideas of the poor. But that isn't enough. They've got to cut our services to protect their lavish lifestyles of six figure bonuses and tax evasion.

But in doing so they've got to realise that they are killing the goose that lays the golden egg. Right now there is a potential genius sitting in a decaying school coming to terms with the idea that they'll never go to university because they cannot afford to. As we sit in the midst of environmental, food and energy crises can we really afford to let that talent go to waste?