By: Daniel King, Student Voices writer
Baby Boxes. A box delivered to all new families, within
which is a plethora of materials for new-borns. From that vital bag of nappies
(because which parents would have the audacity to remember to buy this) to that
first ever toothbrush, the box will provide mums and dads with all the basics
they require to bring up their little darlings in those first difficult months.
This £6m proposal was recently announced by Nicola Sturgeon,
as part of her strategy to convince Scottish voters of her universalist and
socialist credentials before May’s Holyrood election. Indeed, so as to not let
her great strive towards interventionism go unnoticed, she specifically stated
that the Baby Box “will be a universal benefit to help us tackle inequalities
in Scottish society and close the attainment gap between the poorest and
richest children”. And there is the great contradiction at the heart of the Nationalist
arguments when it comes to young people. How can a policy truly eradicate any
inequality between the richest and the poorest children if it is a policy that
will benefit both in equal measure?
It is the same argument that can be applied when we look at
the SNP’s absolute opposition to any tuition fees being imposed on Scottish and
EU students (but not, incidentally, students from the rest of that loathed
United Kingdom). The former First Minister Alex Salmond famously stated that
“the rocks will melt with the Sun before we allow tuition fees” but surely the
benefits of any policy should be evaluated before any bizarre commitment to it
is made. Since 2011, the proportion of state school students attending
Scotland’s ancient universities has actually fallen. There has only been a 0.2%
increase in young people from non-professional backgrounds being accepted into
university whereas in England (where students are lumbered with a debt of
£27000 in tuition fees after graduating) that figure has increased by 3%. And
only 9.7% of disadvantaged youngsters in Scotland will be heading off to University
in September compared to 17% south of the Border. So, it must be asked who is
benefiting from this policy- the intelligent and aspirational children from
deprived backgrounds or the middle class children whose families could easily
afford to fund them through a degree? It has been calculated that the net
effect of the SNP’s no-fee policy is a £20m-a-year transfer from the poorest
students to their affluent peers. This is not just a result of the middle
classes saving money by their children attending Scottish universities. Rather,
it comes against a backdrop of swingeing cuts to the services that,
traditionally, students from deprived backgrounds depended on in order to get
on in life, allowing the Scottish Government to afford the policy of free university
tuition.
The amount paid out by Student Award Agency Scotland for
grants and bursaries has fallen substantially from £100m in 2012/13 to £63m in
2014/15, meaning that disadvantaged young people are now less likely to receive
funding throughout their university career. This forces many into taking out
loans and lumping mass amounts of debt on to themselves (ironically, the
nationalists’ main argument for abolishing any type of tuition fee was that
they wanted to remove debt from all graduates). Furthermore, those students who
do not wish to take the Higher Education route into employment have taken the
brunt of the Government’s cuts. Further Education colleges have seen their
real-term funding slashed by 20% in the last five years and 152,000 course
places have been sliced; a disgraceful sacrifice for the SNP’s obsession with
university students having to pay nothing for their education.
What angers me the most is that these cuts have been carried
out in my name. I will be starting university in September free of charge yet I
am privileged enough to have grown up in a comfortable, middle class household.
I would be perfectly willing to pay something for my education and I believe
that all those who can afford it, should also contribute something in the way
of tuition fees. Yes, £9000 a year is a ridiculous amount, as well as an
impractical one as it is unlikely that the UK Government will ever be able to
claim back all the debt from low-paid graduates. However, I see no problem in
paying £3000 a year as long as the extra funds received by the Scottish
Government are invested in improving the educational experience for those who
are from deprived backgrounds or decide upon Further Education as that stepping
stone in their life. Will the SNP ever agree to this though? Of course they
won’t. And I’m sure it has nothing to do with the fact that middle class voters
secured the party’s victories in the 2007 and 2011 Scottish elections.
What we need to see from politicians is a mature and radical
plan, ensuring that children from all walks of life can achieve their full
potential, no matter which route they take to accomplish it. It’s time that
Nicola Sturgeon and all MSPs get out of that Baby Box and see the world as it
really is.
The Radical Manifesto for Young People
Reviewed by Student Voices
on
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