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Discrimination against ENGLISH students

(36 Posts)
Yorkshiregel Fri 14-Oct-16 19:48:44

I wondered what other Grandparents think about this report:

www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/10/14/john-swinney-announces-eu-students-will-get-free-tuition-after-b/

European students can get FREE tuition in Scotland, but ENGLISH students or WELSH students cannot. Would you say this is discrimination because I would. Why aren't student unions urging English/Welsh students to protest on the streets? Not forgetting that for the next two years at least England/Wales are still part of the UK and also the EU.

I wrote to Mrs May, all I got was a standard letter saying she had passed it on to one of her minions in the outer office.

There must be English Grandparents who have Grandchildren who are being discriminated against. How come Scotland is getting away with this? EU Rules clearly state that no member of any EU state can be discriminated against by another, so why are English students being targeted by Scotland and why are they getting away with it?

Ana Sat 15-Oct-16 14:01:20

Scottish students are not 'being denied education' or access to the career they want.

They might just have to take a University place south of the border and avail themselves of a student loan like the rest of the country, that's all.

As your link says, no one is going to dare to change the Scottish commitment to free University places for all for the lucky few that are accepted.

SueDonim Sat 15-Oct-16 14:07:32

They may not wish to move to move south of the border. Some, like one of my sons, went to university as a mature student and had commitments here.

English students could just as easily avail themselves (for now!!) of places at EU universities with lower/no fees instead of paying Scotland's RUK fees.

Ana Sat 15-Oct-16 14:10:18

Yes, that's true. But the only ones to blame are Scotland's leaders, and those who voted for them and this policy.

SueDonim Sat 15-Oct-16 14:15:10

It's true there are a lot of unhappy folk in Scots academia. Higher ed is being starved of money ESP for research.

Personally, I think right back at the start, funding in the U.K. should have been provided by a graduate tax, say of 1%. It would be much less painful than the stinging 9% some graduates have to pay on their loans.

Yorkshiregel Fri 21-Oct-16 16:53:39

When Scottish students leave university they have no debt. When English students leave university they have a debt of approx. £50thousand! This is discrimination of English students which is against UK and EU law. We are all in the UK and we are all in the EU. Also if EU students come to English universities their government pays a large part of their tuition fees. When our English students reach the age when they want a family, a house and a car they will also be in a job that pays more than £21 thousand per year, so they will have to start paying the tuition/maintenance fees back. They will have to make serious decisions on whether they can afford to even get married never mind raise a family, they will be paying the debt back until they retire. Scottish students can have it all. Saying that the government chose to invest in education not roads is not the answer...there are separate budgets for different projects. If we do not invest in our brightest they will seek employment overseas and UK will be the losers in the end.

FarNorth Fri 21-Oct-16 19:45:22

Maybe you should make your points to the UK government and suggest that they invest more in higher education of English students.

Skullduggery Fri 21-Oct-16 20:10:58

It's not discrimination. It's just the pigeons coming home to roost...finally!
The Scots voted for free tuition fees and the English (Tory) voters wanted tax cuts and Brexit.

Ana Fri 21-Oct-16 20:48:04

'Scotland's budget deficit is the largest in the EU and double the rate of the UK as a whole' in case you missed that point Skullduggery.

Yorkshiregel Sat 22-Oct-16 12:21:08

FarNorth, I already did. I wrote a long letter to Mrs May and I got a routine acknowledgement letter from one of her minions. No surprise there then.

FarNorth Sat 22-Oct-16 13:06:30

Clearly, then, the UK government has no interest in rectifying the situation.
That is not the fault of the Scottish government and is not a reason to rail against 'discrimination' or to claim that 'Scotland is getting away with this'.