Interested in maladministration. Estd. 2005
RTEs Sarah McInerney ? Fianna Fail?supporter? Anthony
Joe Duffy is dishonest and untrustworthy Anthony
Robert Watt complaint: Time for decision by SIPO Anthony
RTE in breach of its own editorial principles Anthony
Waiting for SIPO Anthony Public Inquiry >>
Promoting Human Rights in IrelandHuman Rights in Ireland >>
Why Are Some Rapes More Equal Than Others? Tue Mar 18, 2025 07:00 | Steven Tucker When rapists are Right-wing we, rightly, hear all about their crimes. But not so much when they're Left-Wing, says Steven Tucker. Which is probably why you've never heard of the alleged crimes of this gay rights activist.
The post Why Are Some Rapes More Equal Than Others? appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.
News Round-Up Tue Mar 18, 2025 01:36 | Richard Eldred A summary of the most interesting stories in the past 24 hours that challenge the prevailing orthodoxy about the ?climate emergency?, public health ?crises? and the supposed moral defects of Western civilisation.
The post News Round-Up appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.
How Does Gender Ideology End Up Everywhere? Mon Mar 17, 2025 19:00 | Caroline Ffiske All it took for the Department of Health to add a question on gender identity to the form reporting a child's death was one email. This is how gender ideology gets everywhere, says Caroline Ffiske.
The post How Does Gender Ideology End Up Everywhere? appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.
Far-Left Campaigners Are Targeting GB News and Have Enlisted Ofcom as their Attack Dog Mon Mar 17, 2025 17:00 | Toby Young The boss of GB News has said the channel is the victim of a "coordinated" attack by the far Left after Ofcom launched yet another investigation into one of its programmes.
The post Far-Left Campaigners Are Targeting GB News and Have Enlisted Ofcom as their Attack Dog appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.
How a Heat Pump Destroyed One Consumer?s Perfect Energy Rating Mon Mar 17, 2025 15:52 | Sallust Colin Ferguson spent thousands renovating his home back in 2013 and received a perfect energy rating for his trouble. When he recently installed a heat pump, however, his EPC rating dropped off a cliff.
The post How a Heat Pump Destroyed One Consumer’s Perfect Energy Rating appeared first on The Daily Sceptic. Lockdown Skeptics >>
Voltaire, international edition
Voltaire, International Newsletter N?124 Sat Mar 15, 2025 05:56 | en
"Kristallnacht" against the Alawites in Syria Sat Mar 15, 2025 05:38 | en
Is Donald Trump managing the possible collapse of the ?American empire??, by Thi... Tue Mar 11, 2025 06:59 | en
Voltaire, International Newsletter N?123 Fri Mar 07, 2025 14:41 | en
Arab League summit for Gaza Fri Mar 07, 2025 11:53 | en Voltaire Network >>
|
Youth Unite - Fight Against Student Fees!
national |
anti-capitalism |
opinion/analysis
Thursday September 21, 2006 01:40 by Radical Student - Ógra Shinn Féin osfnational at yahoo dot ie

Student Struggle....
By Dermot Keenan
The start of the 2006 / 2007 academic years brings with it, for the first time, the burden of top up fees on new students. Previously, most students in Britain and the North (except Scottish students studying in Scotland) pay a contribution towards their tuition fees (anything from £0-£1,250 a year).
 Fight Against Top Up Fees! The amount they pay is based on their, or their parents' income (called means-testing) in the tax year proceeding each academic year. Under this new system Universities will be able to charge students anything from £0 up to a maximum of £3,000 per year. In order to charge more than a basic £1,250 fee, universities must satisfy a new Office for Fair Access (OFFA) that their admissions policies are equitable. Nearly all universities have chosen to charge the full £3,000. Rather than pay the fees up front (as is the case now), they will be paid by the government-owned Student Loans Company (SLC), the same body that currently provides student loans. The SLC will also continue to pay means-tested student loans directly to students. Students will repay their loans and tuition fees after graduation in the same income-dependent way as at present. Interest on the loans will still be tied to inflation, so they have a zero 'real' rate of interest.
This policy clearly goes against the promises of the British Labour government in their election manifesto where the clearly stated that they would not introduce such measures. The introduction of top up fees will have a damaging effect on the amount of applicants for third level education. The large accumulation of debt that students will face under the higher education Act 2004 is an obvious turn off for students wanting to progress to third level education. Would you really want to be in £30,000 debt after 3 years of studying? And this is not just hypothetically speaking. Its results are already evident, with UCAS reporting 12,000 fewer applications this year for third level courses. So here we have a situation where degree level education is readily available only to the rich. Any average working class family are unlikely to be able to afford such high fees without incurring thousands of pounds worth of debt, is this fair? Certainly not and will inevitably lead to an even larger gap in the divide between the rich and poor, as the rich can afford the education they get the higher paid jobs and a system of elitism and class struggle emerges far greater than presently experienced.
So what is the solution? Is their an alternative available to middle and working class families or should students continue to struggle, enduring the pressures of demanding courses while also having to work part time jobs to pay off top up fees? The fact is that the British Government are putting corporate profits and millionaires fortunes above people’s needs for public services like healthcare and education including higher Education. One possible solution to this problem is increasing taxation on the rich and introducing free education for all. Give all people a fair and equal chance regardless of their socio-economic class. The benefit of this is highlighted in Cuba where all education is free, and since the Castro led revolution, literacy levels have continually climbed with the total literacy rate in 2005 being 97.3%.
Now more than ever the radical tradition of students is required to demand action against the current unfair system of top up fees. We as members of Ógra Shinn Féin must be to the fore in this campaign, we must continue to lobby the British government, to take direct action and do away with these shackles of capitalist oppression. Under our goal of a 32 County Socialist Democratic Republic the current state of affairs would not be allowed to exist, this is why we as the youth of today must unite and fight against Top up fees. The Student Struggle goes on…. Be a part of it!
JOIN ÓGRA SHINN FÉIN!
|
View Comments Titles Only
save preference
Comments (1 of 1)
Jump To Comment: 1As all the students rush back to college, they'll inevitable come across their union to nick pasta from the freshers packing nothing else. In France on the other hand the student movement is not as monolithic as it is here:
http://libcom.org/blog/jef-costello/student-unions-20092006