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Blue sky thinking
Nick Dowson TUITION FEES would be abolished for English students in an independent Scotland, according to the MSP for Edinburgh Central, Marco Biagi. The Scottish National Party (SNP) MSP told The Student, “After independence, if the current EU situation continues, Scottish universities will not be allowed to charge students from England, Wales or Northern Ireland”. Biagi reaffirmed his party’s commitment that “There will be no tuition fees for domestic students under an SNP Government, whether that is the government of a devolved or fully sovereign parliament.” Under European Union (EU) rules, students from other member states cannot be charged more than domestic students for tuition. In an independent Scotland, the £9,000 fees that Rest of UK (RUK) students will be charged from September onwards would have to be
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abolished. This could happen as soon as the 2015-16 academic year. Previously, the Scottish Government has claimed RUK fees are currently necessary to fill the ‘funding gap’, the difference in funding between English and Scottish educational institutions. “The Scottish Government will have to make up the funding gap from elsewhere – but will be able to do so as a sovereign government rather than one with finances set elsewhere”, Biagi told The Student. “Overall Scotland is healthier financially than the UK as a whole... I have no doubt therefore that Scotland will be able to maintain that funding in the 2015-16 academic year.” The current cost to Scotland of educating EU students is £75m annually, and this is set to increase. Moreover, RUK students make up 15 per cent of those studying in Scotland, against only 8 per cent from the rest of the EU, so the cost to Scotland post-independence could be
much greater. Biagi claims that the current EU rules are unfair, and that “with our own seat at the EU’s top table”, Scotland would seek to change them. “I believe that a workable and desirable ultimate solution would be for each EU country of residence to carry - or at least contribute to - the cost of higher education for their own citizens, regardless of where in the EU they went to study”. However, it seems unlikely that the Scottish government would have any success persuading other EU countries to fund their own citizens to study abroad, since tuition fee increases by the Westminster government and others amount to a refusal of many governments to fund their own citizens’ higher education. Labour MSP Sarah Boyack, asked to comment on the SNP policy promise, told The Student: “To claim as a certainty that Scottish Universities would become free to RUK Students upon separation makes the huge assumption
that Scotland would automatically gain entry to the EU.” “While the SNP spending review included some good news for university students the same cannot be said of the college sector where budgets are being slashed by 20 per cent at a time when Scotland is in the grips of a youth unemployment crisis”, said Boyack. “This will have huge implications on the availability of courses, facilities for students and the viability of some colleges themselves.” The Labour MSP also seemed to question the urgent need for a debate on what Scottish independence would mean, saying that “The SNP’s fixation on separation has seen them take their eye off the ball.” “I would far rather see them concentrating on the issues affecting higher education now”, she told The Student. “We need to see progress on their commitment to improve student support and action to tackle issues like dropout rates and widening access.”
MATT DALE
Local MSP Marco Biagi admits all UK students will be allowed to study for free in an independent Scotland – but is it feasible?
23/01/2012 04:26:27