If you live in England, get ready to write yet another blank cheque for Scotland...
English students studying in Scotland will have to pay tuition fees while their Scots counterparts will be taught for free, under legislation proposed by Alex Salmond, the First Minister of Holyrood.
Scots who study north of the border will no longer have to pay a "graduate endowment" of £2,289 once they finish their course.
Students from other countries will still have to pay. This has angered critics, who believe English taxpayers are subsidising the Scots.
Plans to table the legislation, part of the 11 bills that Scottish ministers are planning for the next year, could come into force by April 2008....
EU students will also benefit as they must receive the same treatment as the indigenous population. Undergraduates from other parts of Britain will still be expected to pay £1,700 a year for their courses. (The Telegraph)
So, basically, if you're English [or Welsh] you have to pay tuition fees if you study in Scotland, but not if you're Scottish or from anywhere else in the EU? Thus, English taxpayers are funding Scottish and European student's education - but not that of their own kids.Scots who study north of the border will no longer have to pay a "graduate endowment" of £2,289 once they finish their course.
Students from other countries will still have to pay. This has angered critics, who believe English taxpayers are subsidising the Scots.
Plans to table the legislation, part of the 11 bills that Scottish ministers are planning for the next year, could come into force by April 2008....
EU students will also benefit as they must receive the same treatment as the indigenous population. Undergraduates from other parts of Britain will still be expected to pay £1,700 a year for their courses. (The Telegraph)
No matter if Wendy Alexander [Scottish Labour leader] thinks that the English shouldn't complain about Scotland living off of us, we will. Especially when the abuse of our taxes extends to such a level as £1,236 more on every person in Scotland.
As much as Salmond may not like it [politically, though obviously not financially], Scotland is still part of the UK. As such, to discriminate in such a way against students from England is utterly wrong.
This is yet another example of the educational apartheid in Britain. Scottish students shouldn't get university - or any other - education on a different financial basis, such as no Student Loans for Scottish students, to that which exists in the rest of the United Kingdom. We are one state, under one Government, even if Salmond disagrees even on that level with his pronouncement of the "rebranding" of the Scottish Executive as the Scottish Government with £100,000 of English money.
Has Salmond never heard of equality - as in where everyone is equal? Apparently not.
Source: The Telegraph
