Really shocked at myself for thinking this (tuition fees)

[Concordia]

I don't really want my kids to be paying back debt their whole lives.
I want them to be able to buy a home of their own.
If they want to do a longer course or a course at a more prestigiuous uni i don't want them to go for a less good option because they are scared of debt. i want them to achieve the best they are capable.
was at myself when i found myself wondering if we would inherit any money in the next 15 years which would enable them to avoid this.
feeling
it's rough that teachers and social workers will end up paying so much more for their degrees than investment bankers who can pay off quickly.
this government really doesn't give a sh*t about those in the £18, 000 to £35, 000 bracket. after all we must be pretty feckless to be that poor and our education isnt' important at all now, is it.

Proposed changes to DLA are way more concerning.

expat - so where are you currently living? your name suggests scotland and therefore could i suggest you aren't really affected by this in the same way that the english are.

many of the things you list affect students anyway - no income from a job, nhs cuts (i thought their budget wasn't being cut, they were just being asked to make efficiency savings - which from friends who work there seems very feasible).

you can believe all the talk you like from politicians - but you actually incurr the cost over 3 years - yes you may have longer to pay the debt back. if you did a four year course you would incur it over 4 years.

'your name suggests scotland and therefore could i suggest you aren't really affected by this in the same way that the english are.'

If you think it's going to stay 'free' here, you're kidding yourself.

I still pay taxes to the HMRC, too.

Well, my kid has so many learning difficulties, she's 7 and illiterate, so yeah, I'm not that fussed about students having to pay for the education. Boohoo.

It's not even upfront, either, and as pointed out, it's over 30 years and if they haven't paid it off by then it's written off, and it doesn't apply if you're earning under £21K.

Doesn't sound like a bad deal to me compared to how the disabled in the UK are getting fucked (and the working poor, and people on benefits, and people who cannot afford private health insurance, etc. etc.).

The problem with the fees has never been the day-to-day repayment burden for the individual, it's the implications for access and the message it sends about the kind of society this government values, which would appear to be utterly venal and premised on the advancement of those who already have a good start in life. It isn't even likely to save us money, and certainly won't in the short term. It's an ideological manoeuvre education, dressed up as hand-wringing money saving. BBC report.

There is no need for different causes to be pitted against each other; it's not a question of personal interest but of wider social good. The postal workers' union, for example, is behind the student cause and a rep from there spoke very movingly at one student protest I attended. Most people who have engaged thoughtfully with the university funding protests see this cause as very much tied up with the attack on the poor and the disabled, which is all part and parcel of the rationale I have described above.

education

Will some services/fees go down now?

I have this vision of millions young people becoming electricians, plumbers, hairdressers, nannies instead of paying uni fees. Then when they are too many of them out there we can twist their arms and drop prices!

Can you tell i'm bitter? This morning i had to beg someone to come and see my boiler. He changed a valve -5 minutes- and got £80