There
is no way you can have missed the rising tuition fees; it has been talked about
non-stop on the news since the decision was made. To be honest, it is the worst
thing the government could have possibly done. What on earth makes them think that students
are going to continue choosing to go to university?
With
universities either doubling or even trebling their fees from the academic year
2012/2013, is it any surprise that the number of applicants has dropped by 12%
since the announcement of increased fees? A 12% decrease is over double what
universities had in 2006, the year tuition fees rose to £3000 from £1200.
That, in my eyes, proves that raising fees is a negative move – how it even
came across as a positive one to MP’s is a question I’d like an answer to! The
figure shows that young people are deliberately not choosing to enter into
higher education because of a decision the government have made. How on earth
students are expected to be able to pay back their tuition fees is beyond me.
That is without adding the student loan for living costs into the equation as
well! The government needs to hear to opinion of the thousands of potential
students out there that are going to be actively affected by this stupid move –
they need to know how their decision is going to destroy
lives!
Never
mind that the government, in correspondence to the raising of tuition fees, are
changing the policy of loan repayment. From September you will have to earn
£21000 per year before you begin to pay off your £27000 tuition fee debt.
However, the repayment period is still thirty years. Although, you can start
off by paying small amounts per month, I have worked out (with a calculator, of
course, and it took me ages) that to pay back £27000, which is tuition fees
alone, never mind living costs, over thirty years, you will be paying back
approximately £75 a month if you want it to be paid off in thirty years, and
that is without adding the 3% interest per year. Now, pardon me for thinking
this, but how on earth is anyone going to be able to afford to buy a house or
even begin to live independently with that hanging over them?
I
know what you’re thinking; ‘but I have to earn £21000 a year anyway before I
have to start repaying’. £21000 a year
is a starting wage for most professions, such as teaching. So just think about
that when applying for your student loan, because the more you start to earn
after your first few years in a job, the more you have to pay back, and the
more you’ll be out of pocket. It is an outrage. You can tell this legislation
has been put together by people who do not have to worry about money troubles
or debt. I bet most of the MP’s could pay their children’s tuition and living
fees up front out of their own pocket with their salary. They do not have to
worry about money troubles – they even get provided with allowances to fund their
living!
They need to come down to earth with a bang and see just what they are doing to
the less privileged young people in society. The young people, who, despite the
amazing potential they may have, will never get the chance to show it because
they just cannot afford to be in debt for the next thirty years of their lives.
That could be over half of their working career gone.
Everyone
should have the chance of higher education! Universities
have existed for centuries, and over the years there have been so many protests
and changes made to allow certain people to attend them. For example, when
people of lower class backgrounds began to gain access to education and when
women fought for the right to have access to the same level as education as
men. So why throw all that away by increasing tuition fees and making it
impossible for people to go to university and make a better life for
themselves? It has been statistically proven that you have better opportunities
in the employment world with a degree. A Guardian
article states that employment figures for university graduates with a First
rose to 90.4% in 2009/10.Therefore, everyone should surely be given a fair chance to enter higher
education? It seems to me that with the government raising tuition fees,
thereby averting potential students from applying to university, they are
taking away their right to secure their own future with a well-paid job? Education is the most important part of
someone’s life. Without education, there is very little you can do with your
life – education is a necessity.
The
government is destroying the future for many young people. As of this year,
only the privileged students, whose parents earn enough money to be able to
either pay their fees or give them some way of support in paying them back,
will even consider going to university. The students who are of lower income
families will not have this opportunity, and so cannot fulfil their dreams of a
job that may require a degree. These young people could end up in dead-end
jobs, living off the council – simply, because they have no other choice! The
government is taking away our right to education!
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