SNP are running scared of telling the truth on higher education funding

The SNP Government has today delivered a Green Paper on Higher Education funding that was simply not worth waiting for.

Liz Smith MSP, Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Education & Lifelong Learning, said:

"It has taken the SNP nearly four years to produce a document that says nothing about how they would tackle the question of higher education funding. There are no solutions here from the SNP, none whatsoever. Higher education institutions simply cannot afford to wait any longer, whereas all the SNP wants to do is make the issue disappear until after the elections next year. That is not leadership, that is not what government is about. It is pathetic. All we had at Holyrood was a dishonest and shabby performance from a shifty and evasive SNP Minister.

"It is no longer credible to say that the state can shoulder all the burden of higher education costs if we are to raise academic standards, maintain our international competitiveness and widen access with sufficient bursary support for poorer students. The long term sustainability of our university system is not possible without an additional source of income coming into the system. That additional amount will not be achieved just by savings and greater efficiencies in the university infrastructure.

"Mike Russell might want to pretend our proposals are about ideology – let him carry on down that road. We are dealing with reality and that is why we need a graduate contribution. It is as simple as that. The SNP is running scared of telling the truth."

Scottish Conservatives reject up-front fees, and we reject a pure graduate tax. We accept there is going to have to be a graduate contribution, repayable from future earnings and at an affordable rate.

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