Wanna Argument?
Funding UK Higher Education: From Elitism to Mass Market
Rarely in the life of the Blair Labour Government has education caused such drama. The survival of the Government's plans for higher education funding, by a wafer-thin majority of five, brings to a temporary halt the excitement of recent weeks. This 'Wanna Argument' looks at the key issues involved in the plans to charge top-up fees for higher education. Our familiar 'talking heads' debate the main points, examining the UK's problem in relation to the international picture; finding out what's wrong with the current position and asking if we have ever had a 'free' higher education system.
Free access for all |
Not if I have to pay for it |
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| Get the drinks in, would you? |
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| Oh, my round is it? | ||||
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| Just trying to break the habitsof a lifetime and save somemoney, that's all. |
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| Not like you. | ||||
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| Well, our Charmaine's applyingto go to university and I can seefinancial problems up the road. |
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| Hope you've got a friendly bank manager. | ||||
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| Exactly. What about your Damon?He going for the student life? |
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| Thought about it, wanted to earn some money though. | ||||
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| Nice to have the choice I suppose. |
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| Exactly what I said to him. He can't believe the likes of us didn't go... | ||||
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How does the UK's commitment to HE compare internationally?
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| So why do they all have togo to university nowadays? |
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| You'd think they'd be sick of education by then. | ||||
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What are the benefits to the UK economy of greater HE participation?
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| OK we ought to be supporting it throughour taxes, if it's really as important as that. |
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| Well, there's Reg's boys; one a teacher and the other a merchant banker. | ||||
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| Yep, and the Saharwa twins next door tome, both at law school. |
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| But it used to be free didn't it, a university education; I remember all those mates of yours going off for a few weeks' holiday every couple of months. Maybe they should pay for the privilege, it might cut down on the skiving and make them work a bit harder! | ||||
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Has a university education ever been free?
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| OK, that's put me straight. |
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| Yes, but what's all the fuss about now? If students pay something and we pay through our taxes, why the need for all this grief about top-ups? | ||||
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| I get grief over top-ups whenevermy mobile runs out of credit. |
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| Unless you borrow mine, that is. | ||||
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What is the fuss all about?
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What's a better way of funding higher education?
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| And that'll sort it then? |
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| What do you think? | ||||
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| Nothing's ever that simple. |
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| Quite! | ||||
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What's the latest on HE funding?
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| Um, wasn't this supposed make the system clearer? |
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| Are you still in the dark then? | ||||
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| Put it this way, I think I've found Charmaine her first assignment. |
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| What's that? | ||||
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| Make sense of student funding in less than fifty words. |
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| Wow, savage task! | ||||
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| As Charmaine will probably say. | ||||
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