Simply Unfair

The ConDem government has announced its plan for tuition fees: at least £6,000 per student, with the option for universities to demand up to £9,000. So now students will be saddled with almost double what they were having to pay before, at least! There are some caveats saying that universities will be monitored to ensure that students from poorer backgrounds are being given ample opportunity to enrol, but in general the policies will simply further the economic repression that is so fundamental to right-wing greedy capitalism. Even students who wish to pay off their debts early will be financially punished with an extra repayment in return for not repaying the full amount of interest on their loan - talk about malicious!
This coalition has previously said it would be too time consuming to means-test everyone, but I reckon most students would be willing to give a bit more of their time if it meant a much fairer system was implemented where only richer students would have to pay the maximum tuition fees while poorer ones actually received financial help to attend the university of their choice and receive a worthwhile education. As for the expense of means testing? Well, we could take it from the overblown ‘international aid’ budget which seems to make clear that other countries are considerably more important than our own in these difficult economic times! The ConDems, as usual, should be ashamed; before young adults even have the opportunity to get involved with the property market, they are already carrying a huge pecuniary burden.

Educational Elitism Is Counterproductive

A-level results were released this week and (would you believe it!) the number of A grades went up yet again. Wow, I would never have expected that. And so more students scream with delight for the slavering media without ever really realising that the more A grades there are, the more difficult it is for those students to distinguish themselves from each other. It has now reached the point where universities are having to make students go through interview procedures or check for extra-curricular activities on their Records Of Achievement (regardless of what grades they have) in order to decide which are the brightest because the majority are continually getting high marks. This isn't a victory for the educational system, it is a manipulation of the curriculum by teachers who tell students every technique in the book for passing exams and thereby giving their colleges good standing in the league tables. Surely it would be better to have a system where the top 20% (or less) of students got A grades and nobody else did; this would distinguish the best from the rest.
Another unnerving development is that independent and grammar schools showed double the improvement that comprehensives managed. This is another example of how the rich are given greater advantages over the average person who can't afford to 'shop around' for their children's education. Comprehensive is almost a dirty word for politicians nowadays, but that's only because they've neglected them for so long in favour of 'Middle England' voters. So please take it from me: people are not getting cleverer, society is just becoming more sneaky about it.