UK ’s model for funding higher education is a ‘broken system’

UNISON assistant general secretary Jon Richards opened the national higher education conference yesterday with a damning critique of the government’s approach towards university education, and of ministers who are out of touch with the crisis affecting so many of the country’s population. “We meet at yet another really difficult time in higher education,” Mr Richards, who was once the union’s head of education, told delegates. “We’ve had a continued funding crisis for years, but it’s becoming particularly acute. The funding models across the UK seem to be broken. “The English model of fees, particularly, is causing huge problems for both students and universities, forcing the former into massive debts and leaving the universities with massive budget problems. “The government has its favourite sort of privatisation, of using fees, but then it holds them at £9,000 and won’t fill the gap with funding, making it ever harder for universities to deliver the services that they think they need to do. “But it’s not just an England problem, because of limited government funding across the whole of the UK.” The effect was a “de facto” cap on home student numbers, while “this xenophobic government has trashed our reputation in Europe” leading to big drops in overseas students, which was once a guaranteed source of university income. At the same time, Mr Richards said, the chancellor was repeating mistakes of a decade ago to create “austerity mar...
Source: UNISON Health care news - Category: UK Health Authors: Tags: Article News 2023 National Higher Education Conference Source Type: news