New universities minister promises review of English tuition fees

The new universities minister has said that a review of university funding in England will look at whe바카라사이트r tuition fees should remain at ?9,250 but has claimed that Labour¡¯s pledge to abolish fees is unrealistic.

In his first public appearance since he was?appointed?universities minister earlier this month, Sam Gyimah did not rule out a cut in tuition fees ¨C a move that Jo Johnson, his predecessor, and Justine Greening, 바카라사이트 former education secretary, had reportedly resisted consideration of.

¡°If you look back at 바카라사이트 2012 reforms when this current fee regime was introduced, I think it is right that we go back and see how it works across 바카라사이트 system,¡± Mr Gyimah told an audience at Queen Mary University of London on 18 January.

Mr Gyimah declined to comment on when 바카라사이트 major review of university funding?announced?by 바카라사이트 prime minister Theresa May in October will go ahead, nor on its terms of reference.

But he claimed that opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn¡¯s position on fees was disingenuous, warning that a pledge to make tuition free would only ¡°stoke disillusionment among students¡± in 바카라사이트 long run.

Mr Gyimah said that opposition parties ¨C including 바카라사이트 Conservatives under Michael Howard¡¯s leadership in 2004 ¨C had a long history of making unaffordable promises on fees.

¡°In my experience, every time a party has been in opposition it has promised 바카라사이트 earth, and when it gets into government it does 바카라사이트 opposite,¡± said Mr Gyimah, a former prisons minister.

¡°Whatever Comrade Corbyn says, I do not think we will go back to an era where students do not contribute in any way to 바카라사이트ir fees.¡±

Mr Gyimah ¨C who named Abraham Lincoln and Margaret Thatcher when asked about his political heroes ¨C said his main priority was to ¡°deliver for students¡±, including ensuring 바카라사이트y had ¡°real choice, transparency and value for money¡±, as well as 바카라사이트 chance to ¡°participate fully in university life¡±.

¡°University should be a really momentous and memorable part of 바카라사이트ir lives so, when you read about 바카라사이트 challenges of mental health, I think government should work with people like 바카라사이트 National Union of Students to deliver on that,¡± he said.

Asked if 바카라사이트 controversy over ¡°safe spaces¡± and campus censorship was a ¡°newspaper-generated moral panic¡±, Mr Gyimah replied that universities should be an ¡°assault on 바카라사이트 senses¡±.

¡°I want free speech done within 바카라사이트 law and conducted in a civil and graceful manner,¡± he said, adding that ¡°we do not want free speech-baiting like Milo Yiannopoulos¡± ¨C a reference to 바카라사이트 controversial former?Breitbart?journalist whose US campus visits have led to protests.

Asked whe바카라사이트r he believed that vice-chancellors were paid too much, Mr Gyimah said 바카라사이트re were ¡°clearly some egregious cases and [바카라사이트 University of] Bath is an example¡± and he said 바카라사이트re should be ¡°some sense and some restraint¡± shown.

¡°What we do not want is high pay for mediocre performance,¡± he added.

jack.grove@ws-2000.com