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<P><A
title="http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/nov/07/tuition-fees-jon-snow-kate-middleton
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href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/nov/07/tuition-fees-jon-snow-kate-middleton">http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/nov/07/tuition-fees-jon-snow-kate-middleton</A><BR>
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<H1>Students are revolting – and about time too</H1>
<P id=stand-first class=stand-first-alone>This week's protests about the rise in
tuition fees are long overdue</P></DIV></DIV><A
href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/barbaraellen"><IMG
class=contributor-pic-small title="Contributor picture" alt="Barbara Ellen"
src="http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/contributor/2007/09/28/barbara_ellen_140x140.jpg"
width=60 height=60> </A><BR><A class=contributor
title="http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/barbaraellen
CTRL + Click to follow link"
href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/barbaraellen">Barbara Ellen</A><BR><A
href="http://observer.guardian.co.uk/">The Observer</A>, Sunday 7 November 2010
<BR><A id=history-link-byline class="rollover history-link"
title="http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/nov/07/tuition-fees-jon-snow-kate-middleton#history-link-box
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href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/nov/07/tuition-fees-jon-snow-kate-middleton#history-link-box">Article
history</A><BR><BR>There's to be a <A
title="http://www.nus.org.uk/
CTRL + Click to follow link"
href="http://www.nus.org.uk/">national student demo</A> through London on
Wednesday about fees and cuts. Finally. Hallelujah. I've been wondering why they
weren't rioting, sitting in, getting all "Vietnam" and direct action about it –
nothing violent, some gentle eggings perhaps. Students are traditionally in the
vanguard of protest, the heartbeat of righteous fury, so recently you couldn't
help but wonder: where are they, where's their fire gone? Now something is
happening and not before time.
<P>Broadening debates is very wise. However, I'm not sure I agree with the
persistent, well-meaning attempts to put <A
title="More from guardian.co.uk on Tuition fees"
href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/tuition-fees">tuition fees</A> "into
context" with other devastating cuts. Isn't there a risk that too much "putting
things into perspective" plays into the coalition's hands, effectively running
their smear campaign against students for them?</P>
<P>Basically it's saying: "Look at this much needier, much poorer person, and
how they're going to suffer. Now look at this privileged student – yes, facing a
huge hike in fees and cut in services, but also young, healthy, flying high,
getting a university education and better prospects for life. Harrumph! I know
who I feel sorry for."</P>
<P>What's this – the top trumps of compartmentalised empathy? "I did feel sorry
for students, they were one of my best cards, but now I see this other group has
got more Suffering & Hardship points, so they win." Just possibly we're
elastic enough to feel sympathy for other victims of cuts, while appreciating
that students have been given a raw deal.</P>
<P>And a raw deal it is. Will the increased fees scare off poorer candidates?
Duh. I definitely wouldn't have bothered in these circumstances and frankly I
would have been no great loss. However, this doesn't mean other more deserving
people aren't going to miss out unjustly. It doesn't even make sense that the
payback starts when students are earning around the average wage. Isn't the
whole point that graduates earn significantly higher than ordinary mortals? The
payback point should reflect this (£40-50K?). Otherwise, graduates are
effectively being penalised for earning an average wage, which, being average,
non-graduates would presumably earn without getting into debt.</P>
<P>A major problem here is that the coalition leaders are rich, with small
children. They do not comprehend the paralysing terror of a sum such as £9,000
(and the rest). How the psychological effect of incurring such debt could be
like twine around the ankle, tugging personal ambition down into the deep. At
the same time, they have zero insight into "launching" teenagers. Getting into
university is complex, exhausting and expensive – travelling, train fares,
endless form filling, Ucas statements.</P>
<P>It's bad enough for the oft-mocked, "sharp-elbowed" middle classes. Without
strong parental back-up, it's a miracle any of the poorer, less-supported kids
navigate their way through what amounts to a chattering-class firewall and
secure a place. They would already have shown immense character and fortitude –
only to get kicked in the teeth at the end.</P>
<P>This is the point. Don't fall for the coalition smear campaign: students are
not an elite no one should feel sorry for. But this legislation could make them
so. After all, the people who always went to university will still go to
university. It is the others, for whom university was never a given, who will
end up missing out, creating a them-and-us forcefield around higher educational
opportunity that will scupper generations.</P>
<P>This much is obvious and surely worth anyone's disgust and focus next
Wednesday. So yes, I've been questioning the apparently feeble student response,
wondering if any sense of brio and protest had been bred out of the wusses. Now
here is a march, one hopes a big, juicy, righteous march. Spiritually, if not,
physically, we should be walking every step of the way with
them.</P></DIV></DIV>
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