Student protest, London 10 November

[Tony Erikson]

Then reform the system and not the fees. Simple.

 

Why would Universities reform what makes them a lot of money? Why also would the students reform what is for most an easy ride? I believe the only option is to let the government sort it and I believe they have.

 

We'll soon see how much students value education once it comes with a charge. Even then the charge doesn't kick in unless earning a considerable amount of money.

[Domain]

The students have only been revolting for one day whereas the Con Dems have been revolting every day since their ill considered conception.

[Domain]

While I don't agree with violent protest, I do understand why feelings are so charged. This is just the beginning. All those that support the Lib Dem/Tory government must bear some responsibility for scenes like the ones we are seeing on our tv screens tonight...

 

INDEED! It was the Con Dem voters who caused the peaceful protest that we see today. They are totally at fault for voting incorrectly.

[LordChaverly]

I think there's likely to be a difference between a relatively rosy economic environment and a bleak one. Taking on a certain amount of debt when reasonably confident of a decent wage on graduation is one thing, taking on huge debt when confronted with a future of structural unemployment is another.

 

But well qualified people will be in a much better position to cope with structural unemployment - if indeed this is the future - than the less well qualified (and these days we are usually talking about an undergraduate or postgraduate qualification of some kind). The fact remains (in my view at least) that over the long term having a university education is likely to reap greater dividends in terms of earning power and employability than not having one.

[Tony Erikson]

The students have only been revolting for one day whereas the Con Dems have been revolting every day since their ill considered conception.

 

I quite like the idea of not throwing money away on the undeserving.

 

See the current regime as the money savers, well have them for a couple of terms then we'll all get fed up and vote in the next labour government which will spend all the current government have just saved. It's happened before and will happen again.

[unuspromulti]

If only the people who studied actual subjects went to university then we wouldn't have this problem. The ones that are ruining it for everyone else are those that study film and media like it's going to help them get a job and those that are studying for a subject on an academic level where really they should be studying it on a vocational level. Stop this "Uni" lifestyle and we would ultimately all pay less.

 

Basically, University isn't what it should be so why should the taxpayer fund it?

 

Who made that change though? Who said we need to catch up the rest of the world and have 50% of our youths go to university? Who made professions like nursing and teaching require a degree when they didnt previously? It wasnt the students was it.

 

And what is an 'actual' subject these days? I'm guessing it's nothing to do with getting a job of any sort? Tell you what while you're at it, why dont we just ban uni for those who dont want to do postgrad? I mean, it's not as if undergrad degrees are worth anything unless it's linked to a vocation is it?

[Chris_Sleeps]

Why would Universities reform what makes them a lot of money? Why also would the students reform what is for most an easy ride?

It's not an easy ride. For some it is, for some it's a balance between hard work and play, and for some it's hard work and holding down 1 or 2 jobs.

 

Why reform? For the same arguments being put forward to charge more. We don't have the funds to carry on 3 year courses for vast numbers of people.

[andygardener]

Because the tax system has shifted away from income tax (where you pay acording to how much you earn) to more consumption based taxes. Vat on fuel and utilities, clothing,food items and council tax, mean, as a proportion of your income, you will pay more tax than the top 10%. Not to mention they can hire accountants to manage their tax, whereas you probably get deducted at source

 

My rent is vat free so that leaves me with about £8K to spend after tax on other stuff. Take off a couple of grand for food (non-vat) and assuming I pay vat on the remaining £6K i have to spend then the extra cost is £150. The income tax threshold increase saves me about £200 this year, the £400 next year and £600 the year after. I can't see how this makes me worse off, let alone 6 times worse off than some rich bloke?

[chem1st]

 

Police cowering beside the protesters. Windows being broken.

[Tony Erikson]

Who made that change though? Who said we need to catch up the rest of the world and have 50% of our youths go to university? Who made professions like nursing and teaching require a degree when they didnt previously? It wasnt the students was it.

 

And what is an 'actual' subject these days? I'm guessing it's nothing to do with getting a job of any sort? Tell you what while you're at it, why dont we just ban uni for those who dont want to do postgrad? I mean, it's not as if undergrad degrees are worth anything unless it's linked to a vocation is it?

 

They can study what they want if they pay for it. I would say an actual subject is one that can be applied to an actual career. The subjects that fit in with the employment demands of industry.

 

I believe the previous government made the change and this government is making another change.