UEA Labour Society Higher Education Debate
The UEA Labour Society held a Higher Education debate at the end of last term which focused on three main questions posed by the members of the society to the panel.The members of the panel included Labour MP for Norwich South, Charles Clarke, NUS President Wes Streeting, and Professor Edward Acton, Vice- Chancellor at UEA.
The first question concerned the Climatic Research Unit controversy at UEA. Specifically, how students should feel about the saga and whether CRU’s director, Professor Jones, was right to have resigned following pending enquiries into the affair.
Members of the audience were concerned that students taking Environmental Sciences would feel their degree had become devalued and would be undermined as a consequence of the accusations and enquiry.
Having adequately covered and reassured students about this inevitable topic, the debate moved on to the issue of bursaries and other education welfare schemes in the United Kingdom.
The question referenced an article from the Guardian which stated that 25% of all students from low income families are unaware of bursaries, suggesting the bursary system in the UK is in a poor state. Charles Clarke was able to offer a new stance on this problem, suggesting that while increasing awareness of bursaries must become a priority, it is also a problem inherently linked to the significant social divisions that still exist in society.
He said he was unhappy with the way in which bursaries are handled for a number of reasons: inefficient targeting, difficulty of access, and complexity of means testing. He also commented that the actual size of the loan should be greater in order to cover maintenance and not leave a gap which students must fill themselves. Nevertheless, the situation was admittedly better than ten years ago.
The third question on the agenda was on how Higher Education should be funded in Britain. Predictably, there was some disparity between the ideal of a system of free, state-funded education and the reality that nothing in the society we live in is free. In response to one member’s accusations against New Labour, Wes Streeting responded that the introduction of student support was essentially made in the interests of alleviation of social inequality and to ultimately help more people to go to university with the addition of a student loan.
When questioned if there was a moral imperative to increase higher education funding, both Vice Chancellor Ed Acton and MP Charles Clarke reluctantly conceded that “(I am) not sure I would say morally it should, only because there are so many other moral causes I don’t think it’s absolute.” Ultimately, it was agreed that although education should not be a commodity, an alternative to tuition fees at this point in time, given the current economic climate would be difficult to find.
Lastly, and offering an off topic yet light-hearted ending to the debate, the controversy over a competition for the sexiest lecturer at the University was raised and given an overall seal of approval by the panel.
Lauren South
