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Call for graduate payment rethink Agreement over university funding
(about 6 hours later)
An academic has called for a fresh look at the contribution graduates make towards the cost of higher education. Universities and the Scottish Government have struck a deal on working together following concerns over funding levels.
Dr Andrew Cubie, head of the 1999 probe which led to the abolition of upfront tuition fees in Scotland, said the issue should be discussed. The agreement came as university principals held talks with the education secretary on the budget, which they said would leave them short.
He asked if it was "socially just" for those who benefit most from higher education to receive it free. Meanwhile, there were calls for a fresh look at the contribution graduates make towards the cost of higher education.
But the government said access to education should be based on "ability to learn not ability to pay". Ministers said access to education should be based on "ability to learn".
Education Secretary Fiona Hyslop said: "I agree that as a government and country we now have to embark on a future thinking exercise about the position of our universities going in to the next decade. Despite the funding concerns, Sir Muir Russell, convener of higher education body Universities Scotland, left the meeting with Education Secretary Fiona Hyslop in a more optimistic mood.
"However, this government believes that access to education should be based on ability to learn not ability to pay. I think if you look around the world there are many countries which seek a contribution from graduates in one way or another Dr Andrew Cubie
I think we have to look again at the ways in which that contribution might be made Dr Andrew Cubie A joint task force is to look at the future of the university sector in the decades ahead and will meet again in December.
"That's why we are scrapping the unfair and inefficient graduate endowment fee and putting more money into student support." "We formed a very clear impression that she and her colleagues are sympathetic to the sector and to the contribution that it can make and that if additional resources become available we hope that we will be in the front line to have a good claim on them," Sir Muir told BBC Scotland.
Dr Cubie, who chairs the court at Napier University in Edinburgh, stressed he was not calling for a graduate tax. University leaders said they had requested a £168m increase in 2007-2008, but received £30m.
His intervention came as university principals prepared to hold talks with the education secretary on the Scottish budget, which they said would leave them short of cash. The Scottish Government has pledged overall funding of £5.24bn to higher and further education over three years.
Dr Cubie told BBC Scotland: "In a society which is still not able to allow those who are in primary and secondary education to reach their full potential, is it socially acceptable that those who have the advantage of getting tertiary education, with all the ensuing benefits, for free? Amid competing budget pressures, Sir Muir argued that universities were one of the best ways to contribute to boosting the Scottish economy, adding: "We give really super value in terms of innovation, in terms of skilled people and in terms of the return that all of that makes on the investment on universities."
"I think if you look around the world there are many countries which seek a contribution from graduates in one way or another. The issue dominated question time at Holyrood, where Labour, the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats all attacked First Minister Alex Salmond over university funding.
"After all, the graduate endowment anticipated, and did indeed, bring about a contribution from graduates for a particular purpose - to assist later students out of disadvantage. 'Full potential'
"The principle, if you like, was accepted at that stage of a graduate contribution. I think we have to look again at the ways in which that contribution might be made." Mr Salmond said the meeting was "highly constructive", adding: "They had an agreement . . . on how the government and the sector can work together for the future of the sector as we move into the next decade and beyond."
Dr Cubie's report into education formed a major part of higher education policy in the first Scottish Executive. Meanwhile, the man who headed up the 1999 probe which led to the abolition of upfront tuition fees in Scotland, asked if it was "socially just" for those who benefit most from higher education to receive it free.
It recommended that students repay £3,000 after graduation but only when they were earning £25,000. Dr Andrew Cubie, who chairs the court at Napier University in Edinburgh, stressed he was not calling for a graduate tax.
In 2001, the Labour-Liberal Democrats coalition scrapped upfront tuition fees and said graduates would contribute £2,000 to a fund for new hardship grants, starting repayments when they earned £10,000 or more. He told BBC Scotland: "In a society which is still not able to allow those who are in primary and secondary education to reach their full potential, is it socially acceptable that those who have the advantage of getting tertiary education, with all the ensuing benefits, for free?
"I think if you look around the world there are many countries which seek a contribution from graduates in one way or another."