Students Demand Public Statement From Uni Boss

An open letter from Southampton Students For Education has appeared in The Guardian asking university Vice Chancellors to state their position on the current regime in higher education.

The full letter (which can be found here), criticises the response from Vice Chancellors regarding the coalition’s education reforms. Typical undergraduates under the £9k fee regime are expected to leave university with over £40,000 worth of debt but this consequence has been pushed through by many politicians who received a free university education. This difference “represents an indefensible intergenerational unfairness”.

The open letter to uni bosses claims that the privatisation of university funding has the potential to turn the relationship between students and lecturers into that of a consumer nature and viewing the degree as a “cold commercial transaction”.

Just under one hundred academics from predominantly Russell Group universities have signed the letter, including 11 from Southampton, calling for vice chancellors to publicly state their thoughts on the sheer amount of debt new students will be faced with and the removal of public funding for undergraduate teaching.

SS4E contesting Universities Minister, David Willetts

George Disney, an organiser of Southampton Students for Education, told the Soton Tab:

 With this national support from respected senior academics, Southampton Students for Education are calling for the University of Southampton Vice Chancellor, Don Nutbeam, to give a clear and unequivocal response to this letter.

A response from the Vice Chancellor would be welcomed, particularly in light of the news that fresher intake for this year is down by 600 students.George’s message to the VC is:

Don, do you support the heaping of debt onto young people and the privatisation of undergraduate teaching. Yes or no?