This Is Guernsey

By Gemma Hockey

GRADUATES now face a debt of at least £9,000 - plus interest - after the States decided to introduce student loans. Education’s recommendation to increase the annual cash limit for university funding by £2.5m. was defeated.

The fallback plan to introduce loans at £3,000 a year repayable over 12 years after graduation was the favoured option in the House.

Education minister Martin Ozanne said Guernsey enjoyed prosperity as a result of its investment in the island’s education and it should continue to do so by supporting its students through the current grant system.

He said that if the economy continued to grow as it had, money should be available.

‘We have been told that we no longer have a black hole, but a grey hole. Therefore, I ask Deputy Trott: is there a possibility that the grey hole could become off-white?’ he said.

‘Do we truly want students we have encouraged to reach their full potential to leave education with debt that might not be necessary if our financial position continues to improve.’

But by the end of the debate, Deputy Ozanne was backing loans.

‘If I can be assured that the next round of talks will provide more funding for the College of Further Education, then I will say that we should support a student loans scheme because I think that is the only way.

‘There are other areas in education that can be developed,’ he said.

Deputy Mark Dorey said he was the one member of Treasury and Resources who backed increasing Education’s budget.

He said he was not against loans but he was against this particular scheme because, by his calculations, it was too expensive.

‘The proposals are not good value for money.’

Savings would stabilise when the first students to take out a loan repaid them and would not be enough to make it worthwhile, even if administration costs were cut by half, he said.

‘The scheme is just not cost-effective.’

Deputy Sam Maindonald, who, like Deputy John Gollop, supported option one, said employers were looking for islanders with degrees.

To impose loans would put students off going away, she said, but employers were looking for graduates who were from Guernsey so they did not have to worry about housing licences.

Deputy Mary Lowe said she believed the majority of the public did not want student loans, but wanted to see the grants system continue.

‘I wish to strengthen our economy and the only way we can invest in our economy is to invest in education,’ she said.

Deputy Dave Grut, one of only two members of the Education Department to vote in favour of its proposal to increase higher education funding, said: ‘I have no doubt proposition one provides by far the best option not only for students but for Guernsey Inc. that will benefit from the skills students will bring back to the island.

‘The island must ensure people are given the best opportunity to up their skills: we need to give every encouragement to people to develop the skills this island needs,’ he said, adding that the loans system was a disincentive.

Deputy Dan Le Cheminant was the second Education member to support proposition one.

‘I believe grants are the right way. We should not go backwards.’

He said those students in families who could not afford the loan would not go to university as a result.

‘If you are telling me we don’t have £2m. to make sure that doesn’t happen, then there something very wrong with this government.’

Deputy David De Lisle said Education should cut its own administration costs.

Education member Deputy Hunter Adam, who was to abstain, said: ‘Not supporting the introduction of student loans would be going against the ideals of the Government Business Plan, whereby spending was agreed to be limited at RPI.’ He along with Deputy Jean Pritchard said there had to be some restraint and deputies could not just keep saying yes to everything.

If Education got its share, then Health and Social Services, Housing and Home would also look for extra revenue for the areas of their services they had to cut or limit.

Housing minister Dave Jones said it was now time the island lived within its means.

‘If you vote for proposition one then Treasury and Resources will be forced to go to the people of this island and to raise taxes.’

Deputy Peter Roffey said enthusiasm for a ‘greying’ black hole was overoptimistic and in the light of agreements made by the House to cap public expenditure at RPI, he would not support the increase in higher education funding.

‘All evidence suggests that graduates enjoy income higher than those people without degrees.

‘They ‘graduates’ are the least vulnerable people in the community,’ he said.

The Health minister said that given the choice to spend an extra £2.5m. a year, higher education funding would not be his first option and added there were many compelling cases but not all could win.

Deputy Charles Parkinson, who along with Peter Sirett and former head teachers Jenny Tasker and Geoff Mahy, voted against proposition one, said that the taxpayer should not have to bear the burden of increasing university fees.

Deputy education minister and chair woman of the higher education working party Wendy Morgan said Education must take corporate responsibility.

She said the implementation of a loans system now did not mean it had to continue forever.

‘It has been said that once we start the system of loans we cannot get out, but what a load of poppycock,’ she said.

‘Scotland has just done that.

‘I’m going to support the introduction of student loans because it would be dishonest of me to say that we could run an education service without introducing them,’ she said.

Treasury and Resources minister Lyndon Trott said the grey hole would almost certainly turn off-white because of policies, such as capping public expenditure, which had been supported by the States.

‘I don’t want to introduce student loans, but there are greater priorities within education,’ he said.