Smith: SNP plans over for anti-English student fees would have dire consequences for Scottish higher education

Liz Smith MSP, Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Education & Lifelong Learning, has warned of dire consequences for Scottish higher education if the SNP does not drop its latest plans to make English students studying in Scotland pay even higher fees than their counterparts from Scotland.

Such discrimination flies in the face of the great tradition of Scottish education and that it could undermine the ethos of the whole system.

Liz Smith MSP said:

"I am astonished and deeply saddened by this latest approach from the SNP.

"Scotland's universities have a distinguished reputation. Much of this has been due to these universities being accessible to students of many different backgrounds and to students from many parts of the world. That is a precious feature of higher education in this country and I think many people will be horrified by what the SNP is proposing as one of the principles of its green paper.

"It is bad enough that students from England have, in the last few years, already been treated differently from those domiciled in Scotland and from those from the EU, but to consider entrenching the discrimination further is totally unacceptable

"At a time when the Scottish universities have an even greater challenge to maintain their competitive edge the very last thing we want to do is put off students from studying here. English students make up nearly 13% of the undergraduate population in Scotland and they must be made to feel as welcome as any other undergraduate group.

"Instead of strong leadership from the SNP on higher education policy all we have got is prejudice and discrimination."

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