Fair Access to Post-Graduate Education for all!

Stop cuts in higher education now!

2009-03-13T05:20:00.000-07:00

Hello all,

I am writing regarding proposed government cuts in education provision. For the coming academic year the government has pldeged to cap the numbers of entrants to higher eucation. Within the last few weeks two Liverpool Universities have announced intentions to cut courses and student numbers. There have been previous announcements to cut courses and students at Nottingham Trent, Salford and London University. These affect both Postgraduate and undergraduates.

For the previous decade Higher Education has opened its doors to new students, many from poorer backgrounds, myself included, who would not have previously had the chance to attend university. This has been great progress and many people have been able to fulfil their potential who would not previously have been able to do so. To reverse this decision now is an utter disgrace, we must come together and fight every cut, no matter where they occur. Youth unemloyment is rising, if we cut the oportunities for people to acquire skills what will happen to these people?

Take Action!
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=74156927336

I have started a group to fight cuts at my own university LJMU, please investigate your own Unis intention regarding cuts and start up a group to stop the cuts. Hopefully we can work together and form a national group opposed to all cuts in education. Never again must the potential of people, from whatever background, go to waste.

In Solidarity
Nick Barnett

An encouraging development

2009-02-23T06:05:00.000-08:00

Hello supporter.
Late last week I received a letter from the house of commons in response to two question submitted on my behalf by Mrs Louise Ellman, MP for Liverpool riverside. I would appreciate your thoughts on this issue.

Here is the text of one of the responses.
"Mrs Louise Ellman (Liverpool, Riverside): TO ask the Secretary of State for innovation, universities and skills, if he will increase the funding available for students from poorer backgrounds to pursue postgraduate studies.

David Lammy:This government acknowledges the value of postgraduate studies. However, we have to prioritise the funding available. Our priority is to ensure that finance is no barrier to students achieving a first degree: that is why statutory student support is concentrated on undergraduates.

However, there are also a number of measures in place to help people finance post-graduate studies. For example, we recently announced proposals to reposition Career development Loans as a key additional source of support to help people finance learning, as new Professional and Career Development loans (PCDLs). PCDLs will offer more people the opportunity to re-skill and improve their employment prospects by offering more generous terms for the learner, such as loans up to £10,000 and lower interest rates.

Funding may also be available for individuals through the access to learning fund (ALF). The fund allows universities and colleges to provide extra discretionary support for students in particular need; it is administered directly by universities and colleges which are best placed to assess students circumstances."

I don't know if our campaign had any bearing on the matter, but when I first started writing to the minister, his responses all said that no extra funding was available for PG education. I suspect that the weight of letters on this issue has at least made them aware of the problem. You should all be very proud of your efforts so far.

I find the middle paragraph very encouraging. Of course, there are further questions, such as, what are the terms of repayment? And just how low will these interest rates be? But I think this is certainly progress on the matter and will change the life opportunities of some people, who would not otherwise have had the chance to enter PG education.

We do, in my opinion, need to keep pushing this issue along with funding for higher education in general. An extra £10,000 worth of debt is a lot, and the question of fees still needs addressing. Please let me know your opinion on this matter, because I think we have started to change the attitude of government, but there is still a lot of work to be done on this issue. Which matter should we pursue next?

In solidarity
Nick Barnett

What should graduates expect?

2009-02-17T07:53:00.000-08:00

What should graduates expect?

This week recruiters have announced that 65% of them plan to cut their student recruitment schemes. (see: http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2009/feb/11/skilled-jobs-graduates-recession also http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/story.asp?sectioncode=26&storycode=405362&c=1) Years of graduate unemployment and discontent are sure to follow. For several years now the economy has failed to keep up with the ever growing number of graduates, in 2007 the average graduate salary fell. This highlights two long overdue realisations. Firstly, the promise that a degree will always increase a person’s salary upon entering employment is not necessarily true. Secondly, something must be done to help graduates realise their potential or they will fall into discontent and entry rates into higher education will fall in the coming generations. Many graduates will leave university this year and discover that employers expect them to become a temp on the same minimum wage of people with no qualifications. Is this what students spend several years of their life accruing debt for?

For years the government, quite rightly, has sought to increase the numbers of young people entering higher education. The promise of a well-paid job at the end of the course, which would rapidly repay the student debts accrued over three or four years, was the rational and encouragement for this. This led to a growth in the number of skilled workers in the economy, often skills learned at universities would become redundant in a workplace that has failed to change for decades. The nature of our current economy means that wherever possible jobs will be outsourced, temporary and, of course, as low paid as possible. Until a change occurs which results in more highly skilled and fairly remunerated jobs in the economy graduates will continue to enter low skilled and low paid jobs, not the fantastic careers that schools, careers services and politicians have misleadingly promised them for years. This emphasis an education to find a job is outdated. The reasons for entering higher education should focus on learning a discipline which the student enjoys, the learning of new concepts which will produce a free-thinking individual and the experience which, for many, is a vital of growing up. This requires a complete change in thinking from government, schools, parents and, not least, universities themselves. Education in itself is a great thing and many individuals are only able to truly know themselves once they have benefitted from the skills and knowledge they are gifted at university.

The rise not only in graduate unemployment, but the failure of jobs to meet expectation will create discontent and could cause future generations to shun the university. Many people who graduated in the same year as myself have been forced to take, what would normally be described as, unskilled jobs. There is clearly a failure in the university which does not prepare such students to enter the workplace in a position that matches their skills, but also in the economy in keeping pace with the increasing skills base of the workforce. There are, in short, too many graduates chasing too few graduate positions. How are recent graduates supposed to feel when the only work available is in shops or factories? They have often invested up to five years of their lives in further and higher education, only to emerge and occupy the same positions as their parents. It is clear that universities responsibility for their students should not simply end upon graduation. Graduate or alumni associations need to be created which can inform graduates of new opportunities, not only for employment, but also future training.

The situation in the employment sector has changed so much with the extension of university education that a degree is no longer a guarantee of a good job, as it once professed to be. A combination of correct experience and higher degrees need to be used so that graduates are able to compete in the work place. The current provision of both of these is based on severe inequality. Work experience and internships are very often allocated by parents securing positions for their children. A working class person has to work much harder to reach a top professional position than one who received private education, has parental connections and built up the network opportunities over their life in education. Postgraduate education opportunities are largely limited to those who possess the ready money to pay in advance for course or else had the cultural capital through their parents to attend an elite university. This double inequality ensures that the top and increasingly, any professional, positions within society are monopolised by people whose attainments are completely dependent on the accident of their birth.

The prospects of the average graduate are limited indeed. They have been sold a lie that gradation will open endless opportunity when in actual fact they are as disadvantaged as their parents, albeit in a more covert way. It is time for graduates to form up into groups and societies and demand equality of opportunity. Education, Education, Education was promised to this generation, but all it has brought is inequality, inequality, inequality. The dominant groupings in society find ever more devious ways of ensuring that they hold the top positions. It is time for graduates to form together and demand a change.

Study into University Inequality

2009-02-05T02:52:00.001-08:00

http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2009/feb/03/university-access-social-exclusion

This article reveals the results of research, based on postcodes, which will surprise nobody. Students from rich backgrounds go to the universities which receive the most government funding, whilst the poorer and more numerous students are left scrabbling for the smaller pots of money. This shows that cultural capital has a direct result on a persons life chances. Not only will the child of a parent from a rich postal area go to a better university but they will as a result have better employment prospects, due to the fact that it is people from these universities which compose the business elite.

The government must act now to dismantle groups such as the Russell group or the 1994 group who ensure that they monopolise all the funding whilst the majority of universities receive next to nothing. It is all very well to talk about excellence in research but this does not reflect exellence in teaching. Wealthy parents know this and push their children to enter a prestigious university knowing full well that the name on the degree will count at the end of three years, despite the student experience being virtually the same.

Attempts to promote diversity by the New Labour government are failing, possibly due to the fact that they do not represent the majority of the population themselves. The technocrats have failed to reduce inequality in the system. Whilst millions of pounds go into the bankers bulging pockets university departments struggle for cash and attempt to reposition themselves in the meaningless league tables. The idea that quality could be quantified is a complete aberration. DIUS is not fit for purpose. A more equal distribution of HEFCE and research council money is needed, allowing each university to provide excellence to its students who are situated at their particular institution because of one thing: Class.

This government declared that class does not exist, it was woefully wrong. Over the previous ten years class inequality has grown and whilst women's rights, racial issues and the rights of LGBT people are, quite rightly, acceptable topics, class has been ignored by a party which once claimed to represent the Working Class. Higher Education requires a bailout of the proportions given to the bankers so that it can produce intelligent workers capable of innovating their way out of recession. Alongside this must go training opportunities for all people, whatever their age. Adult literacy classes must be free and must grow. Apprenticeships, which pay a fair wage and give real qualifications to people who do not see themselves as academically minded, must be introduced. Equal opportunites at post graduate level must be given to those who enter their institution because of class, and the ability to pay made available to those whose parents can not afford to pay. All this could be done for a fraction of the money given to bankers whose greed caused the collapse of the economy, let education help us out of it.

Online Petition

2009-02-01T06:09:00.000-08:00

Whilst funding for Higher education in general is under by the current New-Labour administration, Postgraduate education in particular is completely ignored by the government. With over 500,000 postgraduate students this rapidly expanding sector is creating a new benchmark in skills required to achieve the top posts in the country. The inequality inherent in the current funding system is producing a situation where an hereditary educated elite monopolises the best training and the best jobs in the country.

This situation needs to change, graduates need to make a stand and demand not only access to jobs in line with their skills but access to opportunities from which the government currently excludes the majority.

Please sign the following on-line petition: http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/PostgradLoans/ . Let us make up the numbers and force Prime Minister Gordon Brown to give us an explanation as to why this situation is allowed to continue. Whilst banks and car makers get billions to bail out their failing and corrupt industries the education system is forced to cap the numbers of students and social mobility is postponed for yet another generation. This is not acceptable from a government which in name claims to support the Working Class. National debt may be expanding, but with only a fraction of the amount spent on supporting the high wages and bonuses of banker education could be used to provide a decent future to thousands of people.

Government lays yet another barrier in the way of social mobility

2009-01-28T03:16:00.000-08:00

http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2009/jan/22/university-recruitment-cap

The above article shows the current government has placed a cap on student numbers for at least the next two years. In a period where youth unemployment is expected to grow, they would rather see the unfortunate ones rot on the dole than offer them a chance at aiming for something new. By claiming that budgetry constrainsts lead the decision, in the wake of a growth in number of students and the recession of the economy they are demonstrating short-sighted thinking. The long term benefit of funding each student through university vastly outweighs the costs of years spent claiming benefits and the social deprivation which accompanies this.

Not only has this government failed to remove barriers to talented graduates entering post-graduate education and the professional industries, they are also reversing their own much needed policy of increasing availability of higher education. This is a disgusting situation and is not acceptable from a government which claims to look after the interests of labour. They are condemming thousands to years of poverty, whereas for a short term investment, most of which is repayable with interest, they could be offering opportunity and future success. This moribund administration is secretly cutting our public services in order to bail out the fat-cats who they have lain in bed with for a decade. It is time to cut loose the greed of the bankers and bring these institutions under control of the customers. Offer the population the opportunity it needs to improve itself or we will live with the consequences for years to come.

An old but vital article

2009-01-10T02:40:00.000-08:00

The attached article comes from Paul Wakeling in 2003 and was published in the times. It talks about how labour policy has been "fair access" to higher education, but ignores the fact that social class still counts when people reach the age of 21. It berates the lack of opportunity for many to enter continuing education.

http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/story.asp?storyCode=178672&sectioncode=26

This issue is something that has become even more important in the intervening 5 or 6 years. With more and more people entering postgraduate education. According to figures, provided to me by the government last month, there has been a 21.5% increase in PG numbers since 2001, now accounting for 545,369 people. The government has done little to extend opportunities in postgraduate education to the wider population and professional employment and skilled work is in increasing danger of once again becoming an elite pursuit.

Comment on BBC article

2009-01-10T01:13:00.000-08:00

I posted the following comment on the BBC website, in response to the following article.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/7821629.stm
I'm not sure whether they will publish my comment, they already had some on there, and rarely update their comments once started, but I'm just trying to spread the word.

Whilst this initiative will prevent rising graduate unemployment, it can only be a temporary measure. This widening participation in higher education has led to a situation where many graduates are unable to find employment due to the lack of initiative in the wider economy to keep pace with the skills of the workforce. One way of preventing an increasing number of graduates going from univerisity to unemployment is to fund more places in postgraduate education. Not only will this prevent people finding their options limited to the dole, but they will be equiped with skills, and often the experience, to start up companies or enter higher skilled employment and to find their own way out of unemployment.

For some time now I have campaigned for such a scheme to be put into place. You can find details here : http://fairaccesspg.blogspot.com/ It's about time the government took action and stopped talent going to waste.

Labour cabinet appearences in Liverpool Tomorrow

2009-01-07T01:37:00.000-08:00

The entire cabinet are due in Liverpool tomorrow 08/01/09. I have details of where some of the members will be, but not David Lammy or John Denham. They seem not to publicise these events very well, perhaps because they fear dissent from the general public. If anybody finds out, please let me know as I would love to ask one of them a question about this issue. Of course you might also want to go along yourself and maybe pose a question of your own.

Student Union Involvement

2009-01-05T03:16:00.000-08:00

Student Union Support

A few weeks ago I approached the Liverpool Students Union and the Liverpool guild of students with a view to extending the campaign for change in postgraduate education. Both institutions have been extremely helpful and it seems we are finally making some progress. I also messaged Wes Streeting, president of the NUS, he has responded extremely positively. The NUS are planning on encouraging the government to reassess postgraduate education ahead of the 2009 review. Mr Streeting has already raised the issue with John Denham, Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills, his concerns are not simply about extending maintenance loans but the whole aspect of postgraduate funding.

As ever we must seek to widen knowledge regarding the problem but this is a very positive move and I hope to have future contacts with Mr Streeting regarding the issue. It shows if we come together and push for change, action will be taken. Keep fighting.

You might like to view the departments blog, and maybe add a comment or two. It is only by making this issue known that we will create change: http://hedebate.jiscinvolve.org/issues/

Recent activity

2009-01-04T13:48:00.001-08:00

Having received several negative letters regarding the campaign from the current government, which I will publish on here in due course, I decided to send the following to the opposition’s higher education spokesman. I am hoping to garner an opinion from Mr Willetts and, as the letter states, to win support for the cause across all the main political parties.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Dear Mr Willetts,

Postgraduate Education Funding

I am writing to ascertain your party’s position on a cause that is extremely important to many, as well as myself. For some time now, I have been attempting to change the way in which postgraduate education is funded. As I am sure you are aware, the extension of undergraduate education has resulted in extra demand for postgraduate courses, because many people now see this as the best way to distinguish themselves on the jobs market. Access to these courses, however, is limited, not through the lack of places or difficulty of attaining a position, but by the way in which they are funded. Under the current system you must either be lucky enough to win a scholarship through a funding council, have the university pay your fees or be wealthy enough in the first place to pay for the course outright.

The system outlined above, is a hindrance to social mobility, not only does it favour those who have the funds readily available to access postgraduate education, but the majority, should they risk pursuing professional qualifications, will take longer to complete their courses and probably receive a lower grade, due to having to work in usually low paid, part time jobs. This prevents these people from advancing their careers or they often they fail to complete their course because of financial or work pressure. I also believe that the system favours those who were imbued with the correct cultural capital and were encouraged, by their parents or school, to apply for a better regarded university, rather than a suitable course. These universities are usually in a position to offer discounts or fees waivers to their own students, meaning that people who went to the post 1992 universities find postgraduate education more costly, or will reject continuing education out of hand. This means that decisions people made at age seventeen are hindering their prospects throughout adulthood.

I have suggested that this problem might be resolved by the extension of loans to postgraduate students and the removal of the current career development loans, which are charged at commercial interest rates and deter many. This will allow people to complete their professional education in a shorter time period, thus beginning their career earlier and earning more money over the course of their lifetime. It will also mean that many people will not have to accrue excess debt from commercial sources, which often happens to those who attempt to complete part-time study and part-time work simultaneously.

So far I have written to several MPs and I am trying to discover the policy towards this matter of the different parties. Many have responded positively to my enquiries, and I hope to build a coalition of MPs who will support this course. Please inform me of your own viewpoint on the issue. Do you have any suggestions as to how the problem could be solved? What is the official Conservative party view on this matter?

Yours Sincerely

The Facebook Group

2009-01-04T13:41:00.000-08:00

You can follow us on this group. Please join us to show your support, invite your friends too if you care enough. We want to push the government enough for them to include postgraduate education in the forthcomig higher education review.

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=63866006200

The Current text of the group reads:

Please read the below and send a letter to David Lammy, at the address below, to pursue the issue.

Currently the UK has no provision for postgraduate students to receive a student loan on the same terms as undergraduates.This wastes the potential of many who are deterred from pursuing professional qualifications. Others, who do pursue Postgraduate education, are forced to delay their careers while they take their courses on a part-time basis; this is usually combined with low paid work. The extension of university education to previously excluded people, whilst commendable and of great benefit to the population, has meant that more people now see postgraduate and professional qualifications as a prerequisite for embarking on their chosen career. Unless the candidate has the money to pay for fees, often in the region of £4000-£6000 per year, and for their living expenses, the vast majority of people are being hindered or excluded from their professional career.

Research has shown that poorer people are more likely to abstain from continuing education due to lack of funds. This reinforces a new system of inequality, where postgraduate education is only open to a small amount of people who receive scholarships or whose parents have the money to pay for them.If a person was to pursue a masters and PhD on a part time basis it would take at least 8 years. During that time the person would lose out on four years earnings potential in comparison to another person who can afford the fees, or receives funding to embark on a full time program. If a loans program were in place they would be able to complete their course in a shorter time, being able to pay back their loan sooner and earning more taxable income over the course of their careers. Both of these results would benefit the government and wider tax-paying public.

Please send a letter to David Lammy, Minister of State for higher education. Tell him that people need this to pursue their careers. The lack of a fair loans system holds back people who are more than capable of achieving these qualifications.
We only want an equal chance to fulfil our potential.

Mr D Lammy Minister of state for Higher Education,
DIUS,
Kingsgate House,
66-74 Victoria Street,
London.
SW1E 6SW.

If you wish to write to other MPs as well please do so, but message Nick Barnett to let me know about it, so that we know who has been approached. We are not affiliated to any political party, we just want opportunity for all.

I already have support from Mrs Louise Ellman, Labour MP for Liverpool Riverside. She wants this to become an issue and is submitting questions to parliament on our behalf. If we keep up relentless pressure the government will have to act.

A Manifesto for Post-Graduate Education provision

2009-01-04T13:37:00.000-08:00

The current policy of governments is one of widening participation in higher education, this is a great scheme which serves to increase the general level of education and to reduce poverty, it is to be greatly applauded; there is, however, a serious consequence of this policy which needs to be addressed: the provision of funding for post-graduate students. In the wake of the much needed extension of higher education a post-graduate qualification is becoming essential to enable in an individual’s chosen career and to show the potential and self-belief of the candidate.

Currently funding provision in this area is poor: there are some scholarships, but these are distributed to reactionary institutions whose graduates make up a large proportion of the political class; some charities and trusts offer funding, but this is largely inadequate and oversubscribed; there is available, via commercial banks, a career development loan, this however, charges a commercial rate of interest and generally does not cover fees. The system, as it stands, promotes inequality: If you are rich enough you will, with ease, pay for fees and living expenses.

If, on the other hand, you lack the financial means of the moneyed class, you must give up on education, foregoing your vast potential and become embittered about your failure to be all you can be. If you are not deterred by the financial losses you will make you could choose part time work and study, living on low wages whilst your inability to commit yourself to your course reduces your grade, with the net result of you embarking on your chosen career later than those who have had the opportunity and with a reduced potential for progression.

The increasing number of people choosing postgraduate qualifications as essential for their self development is not being met by opportunity; this is enforcing a system of inequality with the poor in society more likely to postpone their continuing education.

If you are good enough there should be no barriers.