Save education funding

[woolymonkey]

Have you been in touch with your MP lately?

If you'd like to send her/him a Christmas card, or maybe, just for instance, beg him/her to vote against cuts to education funding, here's a handy link:
writetothem.com

Cambridge people, I know Julian Huppert has promised to vote against, but it couldn't hurt to write and thank him for that, could it?

I'm not just worried about how the teen monkeys will be able to afford university (though I am).  I'm also concerned that nobody in their right minds will run up 30K of debt so they can go into teaching and other relatively low-paid graduate professions.  Even the Open University will have to hike up its fees.  Yes, it'll be easier to borrow money to pay those fees, but we will lose all the people who are studying for its own sake, or just dipping a cautious toe into education after previous bad experiences, wondering if, perhaps, maybe, possibly, they can do it after all.  I don't want to see our universities lose their diversity to become training centres for people who've decided to invest in a career in banking.

Comments

See my letter below

[ms-cataclysm.livejournal.com]

I am one of your constituents from Cambridge. I would like to thank you for promising to vote against the education cuts.

My husband and I were both brought up in council houses (in Warrington and Liverpool respectively). Thanks to full scholarships to fee paying schools and full student grants, we went to Cambridge University, entered the professions and eventually became higher rate tax payers.

My husband would like to add that he read the supposedly useless subject of Classics which he found to be an excellent preparation for the discipline and accuracy of computer programming.

I think our education has been a good investment for the treasury. I hope that the government will consider the future social and fiscal consequences of the present cuts and consider whether the proposed cuts really make economic sense.

Thank you for reading my letter .I take this opportunity to wish you a happy and prosperous New Year.

Re: See my letter below

[woolymonkey.livejournal.com]

Good stuff!

Re: See my letter below

[ms-cataclysm.livejournal.com]

He's actually replied already :

Thank you for your email asking how I will be voting in the debate on Student Tuition Fees that will be held on Thursday 9th December.

I have said very clearly that I will vote against an increase in tuition fees. I have campaigned against these since Labour initially brought them in, and will not change that position when I vote on Thursday.

Re: See my letter below

[woolymonkey.livejournal.com]

That is good to hear. I don't have a reply from him, but I only sent a brief email.

[amenirdis.livejournal.com]

but we will lose all the people who are studying for its own sake, or just dipping a cautious toe into education after previous bad experiences, wondering if, perhaps, maybe, possibly, they can do it after all.

You mean like ours? When people graduate with a hundred thousand dollars of debt or more, payable over thirty or forty years after graduation, they can't afford to take jobs that aren't going to be extremely profitable, like teaching, the other sciences as opposed to medicine, or public interest jobs rather than law.

[woolymonkey.livejournal.com]

Yes, I think that's the idea. Except that at least yours has been around for long enough for salaries and prices to adjust, and for scholarships to be created. Not to say that makes it all rosy, just that kids who turn 18 this year can expect to graduate with about 10,000 pounds debt, but everyone after them can expect 30,000. It's a huge change overnight, with no chance for anything else to adjust. Can you imagine what it'll do?

[amenirdis.livejournal.com]

Oh believe me I'm not suggesting it's a good thing! It reinforces social class to a staggering degree.

[http://users.livejournal.com/la_marquise_de_/]

I share your concerns.

[woolymonkey.livejournal.com]

I know you do. Thank you.