The Arms Debate: should defence companies be allowed to recruit on campus? Exeposé opens the floor. The Debate: Comment, P 10
Exeposé
Monday November 8 2010 Issue 571 www.exepose.com
Languages students face short deadlines Students still unable to apply for their years abroad Charlie Marchant News Editor APPLICATIONS for students undertaking a year abroad remain unopened in England and Wales. The Language Assistants programme, managed by the British Council for the Department of Education (DfE), is subject to the government funding review and so recruitment for the English Language Assistants placements in 2011-12 is unable to begin. The scheme offers foreign language students the opportunity to teach abroad, mainly in primary and secondary schools. It is only one of the year abroad options, but has always maintained a high uptake because it is paid work experience. University lecturers claim that interest in the programme has steadily risen over the years.
“It’s worrying considering the deadline is looming and there’s alot to consider”
Nadine Carpenter, second year French and Spanish student
Following George Osborne’s review, the British Council received a £30m cut to its FCO grant, which fell to £149m. In light of the cut, the British Council is understood to have written to tutors informing them that recruitment to the programme depended on the CSR. However, the application deadline still remains fixed at December 1. Usually, there is a matter of months to ap-
Photo: Henry White
£9,000 fees Ellie Busby News Editor
ply (applications for Ireland and Scotland opened October 15) but students in England will be left with only weeks to apply. Nadine Carpenter, second year French and Spanish student, said, “It’s worrying considering the deadline is looming and there’s a lot to consider.”
“I think we need to be encouraging students to study abroad, not making it more difficult” Bertie Archer, VP Academic Affairs
Gemma Smith, second year English and Spanish student, commented, “We have to hand in three completed applications to the year abroad co-ordinator a week before the deadline; the tutors that are writing our references are going to be inundated. We have to put together a strong application; as it’s not guaranteed we’ll be awarded a placement, on top of our university work, in a very short space of time.” The latest British Council figures, to be finalised in November, show that over 2,500 British students undertook a year abroad this academic year, with most of them going to France. About 2,800 foreign students are also currently teaching in British classrooms. Exeter graduate, JK Rowling, who was assigned to a school in Montreuil, near Paris, from 1985-86, is among the programme’s alumni. Bertie Archer, Guild VP Academic Affairs, said, “I think we need to be encouraging students to study abroad, rather than making it more difficult. If students experience any problems with the process, I would encourage them to contact the Guild.” There was no further information at the time of going to press.
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THE GOVERNMENT has announced that students will face an almost threefold increase in tuition fees, if parliament approves the proposal. On Wednesday November 3, David Willetts, Universities Minister, announced plans to raise fees to £6,000, with an upper tier of £9,000. Fees will still be paid back after graduation at a rate of interest, but the repayment threshold will rise to £21,000. This could be introduced as soon as 2012. The proposed fee rise, up from the current £3,290 per year, will supposedly replace funding cut from universities in the recent Spending Review. Many courses, particularly in arts and humanities, will almost entirely depend on income from students’ fees. Jonnie Beddall, Guild President, stated, “You’d think that increasing student fees by 275% will mean proportionately better facilities, better teaching quality, more contact hours and smaller class sizes. However with the government cutting the University teaching budget by 75%, this means that Exeter will need to charge £7,200 just to replace lost funding.” He added, “At a recent open-staff meeting, the Vice Chancellor was confident that Exeter will come out, not just “relatively” but “absolutely” stronger. Aaron Porter, NUS President, stated that the proposals would “force students to shoulder the bill for devastating cuts to teaching. The only things that students could expect in return for higher fees are higher debts.” Many students are angered by the Liberal Democrats’ quick dismissal of their election pledge to vote against any rise in fees. Alice Horton, a second year Geography student, said, “I voted for the LibDems and I feel betrayed and let down by the proposal. I am looking forward to protesting against the plans.” Tickets for the Guild coaches to the NUS London demonstration on Wednesday November 10 are now sold out.