We don’t want uni fees, say students

10:14am Thursday 23rd November 2006

STUDENTS at Worcester College of Technology have joined the nationwide fight against university top-up fees.

After collecting more than 300 names for a petition against the fees in one day, student union president Shane Griffin and Owen Prince, from the student union entertainment office, met Worcester MP Mike Foster to discuss the issue.

Top-up fees would allow universities to set an extra charge for students, in addition to tuition fees and living costs covered by student loans, to give them the extra funds they say they need for research projects and to retain senior academics.

Mr Griffin said the Deansway college's students had joined the National Union of Students' campaign against the extra levy.

"We are one of the only further education colleges that has actually got involved. As students here might go to uni, I felt it was important."

As well as signing the petition, students had put up posters, handed out flyers and broadcast their message over the School of Art and Design's radio station.

Peter Robinson, head of student services at the college, said there was concern that a Government review into top-up fees due in 2009 could scrap the current £3,000 ceiling.

He said: "That will mean universities can charge as much as they want and that will just make it more difficult for students, particularly those from lower incomes, to go into higher education.

"We have asked the Department of Education to tell us what their plans are at the moment, what the nature of this review is. Are they going to use information on the decrease of participation rates, are they going to ask students and parents?

"We feel nationally and at the college the students' voice is something that must be taken into account."

He said that in Worcester only 18 per cent of students went on to higher education, and added: "This is beginning to have an impact in terms of the city and the county."

At the meeting, Mr Foster told the students that although he understood their fears, the fees were necessary.

He said: "There is now a consensus in Parliament that the introduction of variable tuition fees was the right think to do to provide universities with the extra cash that they needed to increase the number of students who study and to enable lecturers, staff and the quality of the buildings and equipment to be updated so that universities can compete in what is now an international environment."

Mr Foster added he did not think the fees would put students off, but would do the opposite, with financial help available in the form of bursaries and the re-introduction of means-tested grants.