Quote:
Originally Posted by Neil
Very true, also it should be free for all and not dependant on what money parents earn. I don't like means testing for anything as a general rule.
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Both Scotland and Wales have now scrapped the student loan scheme, that Labour introduced in 1997, and have returned to means tested maintenance grants.
I have an honours degree, and it did ultimately give me access to a career I loved. However I know plenty of people who achieved similar success by starting on the shop floor, so to speak, and did better than those who spent three or four years doing a degree.
In theory I think the old means tested maintenance grants were fairer than the new student loan system, in that it allowed more people, from differing backgrounds, greater access to further education. It's okay starting your working life with a £25,000 debt if you're destined for a well paid job in the City, but it must put people off other careers, teaching for example, which aren't as well paid.
Further education isn't for everyone, nor should it be, but it should be accessible to those who want it, irrespective of how well off your parents are.
The student loan scheme does allow that, but I think the old maintenance grant scheme allowed a more inclusive for all access to further education, and I think the government were wrong to scrap the grant system.