29/10/2023
UNIVERSITY FOR ALL?
I strongly believe that pushing our young people to go to University is a mistake. It’s bad for them and it’s bad for the country. Labour changed the rules so that 50% should go instead. Sounds great doesn’t it? However like all socialist schemes, what looks good on paper is a disaster in practice.
I accept that it’s right for many but it isn’t right for many more. Alarming numbers drop out and don’t finish their course as academia isn’t right for them. Did you know that even if you don’t get a single grade E at A level, you can still go to university? https://www.ucas.com/advisers/guides-teachers/help-your-students-get-uni/entry-requirements-and-alternatives-levels Dumbing down standards. It’s wrong. That’s not levelling up. More like levelling down.
We see young men and women leaving university with worthless degrees and saddled with debt. About £40-50,000 of debt nowadays for each student. I wouldn’t want that for anyone. £20 billion a year is loaned out by Government to 1.5 million students. Staggering sums.
That student debt isn’t repayable unless they earn a certain amount which is currently £22,000 and upwards. https://www.gov.uk/repaying-your-student-loan/when-you-start-repaying What an incentive to never achieve that amount. What an obstacle to put before anyone. Yet if we are to have 50% going to university that student debt is the only way it can be afforded.
And now we have an underperforming workforce and £206 billion in unpaid student debt which the taxpayer will have to write a lot off. No surprise there. What a waste of money and talent.
What are the alternatives?
Industry is crying out for workers. Crying out for apprentices. A bricklayer earns upwards of £50,000 a year. No student debt there. Yet we have a lack of bricklayers. So we have immigration to cure it? Well that just means more stress on our resources. They’re already stretched too far with all the immigration we’ve had since 1997. We have seen 9.4 million more people come here since Tony Blair was elected. No more. That isn’t the answer.
https://www.macrotrends.net/countries/GBR/united-kingdom/population.
We are full. No more.
We need to reevaluate. I want our young people to prosper. I want them to earn and to save. To save that deposit so they can buy that house. To be a valued part of society and contribute with their taxes from their hard earned income. I don’t want them starting off with debt if it’s avoidable.
And those that do go to university will find their debt reducing as we can more easily afford higher education if the numbers reduce.
It’s a win win all round. Everyone gets a better life and the country prospers too.
What do you think? Let me know in the comments below or email me. I’m genuinely interested to hear from you. Together we can make this country a better place. It’s already wonderful and I wouldn’t want to live anywhere else. That doesn’t mean we can’t improve though. Same applies to Doncaster!
Thank you.
Nick.
