Liberal Youth Scotland, the youth & student wing of the Scottish Liberal Democrats is disappointed that, in his statement to Parliament today, Education Secretary Michael Russell failed to provide any answers for students.
His green paper provides a number of options for Higher Education funding, but with no costings or models, and no proposed measures to ensure all young people can have the opportunity to go on to Higher Education.
Liberal Youth Scotland President Kristian Chapman said: “Michael Russell’s statement provides no relief for students and prospective students who are worried about what his Government are going to do to Higher Education.
“The only concrete announcement we’ve had from this SNP Government is that they are cutting 12% from University funding, but with no answers on how this will be replaced.
“NUS research has shown that a huge number of students have thought of dropping out because of a lack of student support, and again, we still have no answers from the SNP on how they will address this.”
Scottish Liberal Democrat Finance Spokesperson Jeremy Purvis said: “We will work together across parties to deliver the right way forward for universities and students. But we also need to address the issue that should give us all pause for thought.
“That is that even with free university places, only one in five young people from the most deprived backgrounds go on to study a higher education qualification, compared to four out of five from the most affluent backgrounds.”
Ends.
