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Feeling smug, coalition? Students will fight back Feeling smug, coalition? Students will fight back
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It is a common tactic for university managements and government ministers to announce their most unpopular reforms when students and staff are away from campuses. This year has been no different. Last month Liverpool University threatened 2,803 staff with redundancy, while the reforms to higher education announced in the spending review will, for many, be just as important as the tripling of tuition fees in 2010.It is a common tactic for university managements and government ministers to announce their most unpopular reforms when students and staff are away from campuses. This year has been no different. Last month Liverpool University threatened 2,803 staff with redundancy, while the reforms to higher education announced in the spending review will, for many, be just as important as the tripling of tuition fees in 2010.
When the government raised tuition fees to £9,000 and cut teaching budgets by as much as 79%, it argued that the funding system would be more progressive than the old one. A boost in scholarships and a raising of the loan repayment threshold to £21,000 would widen access to education, it claimed.When the government raised tuition fees to £9,000 and cut teaching budgets by as much as 79%, it argued that the funding system would be more progressive than the old one. A boost in scholarships and a raising of the loan repayment threshold to £21,000 would widen access to education, it claimed.
Even these paltry measures are now fraying around the edges. Last week, George Osborne announced a cut of £100m to the National Scholarship Fund and a freeze in student grants. The Treasury is now openly considering tightening the repayment threshold on student loans. With rents and student poverty rising, international students will now be expected to pay £200 to see a doctor.Even these paltry measures are now fraying around the edges. Last week, George Osborne announced a cut of £100m to the National Scholarship Fund and a freeze in student grants. The Treasury is now openly considering tightening the repayment threshold on student loans. With rents and student poverty rising, international students will now be expected to pay £200 to see a doctor.
The changes are part of the same old agenda. Just like the cut to the teaching grant in 2010 and the higher education (HE) white paper in 2011, the changes show the government moving funding away from teaching and student support, and instead prioritising research and capital spending. This creates a system in which richer universities can thrive and newer universities – on which many working class students rely – are forced to slash and burn. No sooner had the chancellor announced the spending review than the Russell Group, the lobbying arm of the UK's 24 most prestigious universities, had welcomed it as "the right decision to protect crucial research spending and increase capital investment in science in real terms, both of which will provide a boost to our economy."The changes are part of the same old agenda. Just like the cut to the teaching grant in 2010 and the higher education (HE) white paper in 2011, the changes show the government moving funding away from teaching and student support, and instead prioritising research and capital spending. This creates a system in which richer universities can thrive and newer universities – on which many working class students rely – are forced to slash and burn. No sooner had the chancellor announced the spending review than the Russell Group, the lobbying arm of the UK's 24 most prestigious universities, had welcomed it as "the right decision to protect crucial research spending and increase capital investment in science in real terms, both of which will provide a boost to our economy."
The spending review drives forward the privatising agenda that the government has pursued for the past three years.What is far more significant is the planned privatisation of student debt from 2015, confirmed by Danny Alexander. Because this move makes no financial sense on its own, the government will, as a report leaked to the Guardian has admitted, have to offer sweeteners to investors. One of these sweeteners could be a state-funded guarantee on the debt; another would be to make students and graduates pay more and sooner.The spending review drives forward the privatising agenda that the government has pursued for the past three years.What is far more significant is the planned privatisation of student debt from 2015, confirmed by Danny Alexander. Because this move makes no financial sense on its own, the government will, as a report leaked to the Guardian has admitted, have to offer sweeteners to investors. One of these sweeteners could be a state-funded guarantee on the debt; another would be to make students and graduates pay more and sooner.
Not content with tripling fees against Lib Dem pledges and implementing many of the fundamental marketising reforms of the HE white paper without a vote in parliament, the coalition seems intent on a policy which could impose, retroactively and without the consent of anyone affected, large rises in interest repayments. Unlike the piecemeal and localised affects of the HE white paper, the privatisation of student debt has the ability to affect everyone with a student loan dating from 1998 or later.Not content with tripling fees against Lib Dem pledges and implementing many of the fundamental marketising reforms of the HE white paper without a vote in parliament, the coalition seems intent on a policy which could impose, retroactively and without the consent of anyone affected, large rises in interest repayments. Unlike the piecemeal and localised affects of the HE white paper, the privatisation of student debt has the ability to affect everyone with a student loan dating from 1998 or later.
The extent and speed of the government's attack on education and public services has been made possible by the dominance not only of a narrative of austerity, but of neo-liberalism more generally: the assumption that the future contains only the privatised market.The extent and speed of the government's attack on education and public services has been made possible by the dominance not only of a narrative of austerity, but of neo-liberalism more generally: the assumption that the future contains only the privatised market.
Inadvertently the government may have provided the national focus for a level of student resistance not seen since 2010-11. In early October, the National Campaign Against Fees and Cuts will be calling days of direct action against organisations complicit in debt rises and marketisation, and many are once again actively considering the possibility of a national mobilisation in London. The fight to save universities as a public service is far from unwinnable, but the student movement must first wake up to the danger of the loan book sale, regain its sense of energy, and articulate itself within a movement which can challenge an ideology, rather than simply reacting against each new Tory policy.Inadvertently the government may have provided the national focus for a level of student resistance not seen since 2010-11. In early October, the National Campaign Against Fees and Cuts will be calling days of direct action against organisations complicit in debt rises and marketisation, and many are once again actively considering the possibility of a national mobilisation in London. The fight to save universities as a public service is far from unwinnable, but the student movement must first wake up to the danger of the loan book sale, regain its sense of energy, and articulate itself within a movement which can challenge an ideology, rather than simply reacting against each new Tory policy.
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