THE number of students going to university looks set to fall following the States decision to introduce loans. ‘I have already heard of youngsters who will be at least deferring, if not putting off altogether, their plans to go to university,’ said secondary school teacher Caroline Bowker,
Education minister Martin Ozanne and his deputy, Wendy Morgan, are being called on to resign following their U-turn during last week’s debate when they voted against their own proposal to increase higher education funding.
‘Why must our children suffer for a decision, presumably necessary, of the States to reduce the amount of tax paid by the corporations?,’ said Mrs Bowker.
‘Is this another case of where England and Jersey lead, we will follow? Why don’t we follow the Isle of Man, Scotland or Gibraltar, all three of which have determined not to charge their students to study?
‘What student would choose to go away and incur a debt when they could choose instead to stay on the island and earn a good salary, particularly when promotion is no longer dependant on higher qualifications?
‘What message does this send out to our youngsters? Does this say that we value education for its own sake? Or does it rather say that the only education of value is the one directly connected to your job and often therefore paid for by the employer?. That is not the message I would want to send to my pupils.’
She added that the message from the States was muddled.
‘First they tell us that it is important that we have a well educated workforce, then they discourage university students by making them pay part of their fees,’ said Mrs Bowker.
‘Or am I being too simplistic? Is it just certain students they want to discourage because of course there are some families who will not feel the pinch with this decision and who will pay their children’s contribution?
‘It is the middle- and lower-earners who will be discouraged, those same middle-earners who will be affected by other money-raising decisions of the States.’
She added this could lead to more immigration to supply the ‘well educated workforce’ and with it increased costs in relocation packages.
‘We want high-earners, we want locally qualified employees, but we want to bring back to the island people saddled with debt who will therefore have limited spending power. Where is the logic in this?’
Mrs Bowker asked what could have been brought up in debate to have changed the minds of the department’s political heads.
‘If the discussions had been incomplete, then they have only themselves to blame for the calls coming from other deputies that they should resign. If they had never intended supporting proposition one, then it should not have been there at all.’
She thanked Education board deputies Dan Le Cheminant and David Grut for having the ‘courage of their convictions’ in standing by the department’s report.
Article posted on 8th November, 2007 - 12.00am
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