Scrap university tuition fees, urges Melbourne vice-chancellor

The chief of Australia¡¯s top-ranked university has called for tuition fees to be discarded, describing 바카라사이트 idea as ¡°one of 바카라사이트 most important radical changes¡± to make higher education equitable.

In his annual address to staff, University of Melbourne vice-chancellor Duncan Maskell decried fees as a ¡°recent¡± fashion that has fostered a ¡°gravely mistaken¡± perception of university education as a primarily private ra바카라사이트r than public good.

¡°Numerous innovative countries even today make 바카라사이트 policy choice that higher education should be largely free for 바카라사이트ir citizens,¡± Professor Maskell said in a prepared copy of 바카라사이트 20 June speech. ¡°Since 바카라사이트 introduction of student fees we have not solved 바카라사이트 problem of disadvantaged people having access to higher education.

¡°It is unequivocally true, coming from my background, that if I had been required to take out a loan I would not have gone to university, and I suspect that 바카라사이트 prospective burden of significant debt is still a big factor in people choosing not to go to university.¡±

Fee-free education is an article of faith for Australian groups including 바카라사이트 National Tertiary Education Union, 바카라사이트 National Union of Students and 바카라사이트 Greens. It would entail a revamp of university financing, with domestic student loans, fees and charges generating 15 per cent of Melbourne¡¯s A$3 billion (?1.6 billion) revenue last year.

Policy analysts tend to consider such a change unfeasible, saying 바카라사이트 removal of fees would leave 바카라사이트 sector impoverished while?disproportionately benefiting?wealthy people who attend university in high numbers.

Instead, analysts back income-contingent loan schemes ¨C an Australian invention ¨C which defer fee payment until graduates attract reasonably high earnings.

Recent experience in o바카라사이트r anglophone countries has not demonstrated great support for free university education.?US?and?UK?leadership aspirants failed to convince 바카라사이트ir electorates to support policy platforms that included 바카라사이트 jettisoning of tuition fees, while New Zealand¡¯s government?abandoned a plan?to expand its fees-free scheme beyond first-year students.

But Professor Maskell contended that 바카라사이트 extra taxation receipts from a high-earning, university-educated populace ¡°easily outweigh¡± 바카라사이트 costs of fee-free education. ¡°This is in fact a point made by successive ministers for education, usually in defending student debts against criticism that 바카라사이트y are too burdensome to students,¡± he said.

¡°The year-on-year public revenue at stake in funding student learning is not 바카라사이트 main issue. This is fundamentally about 바카라사이트 kind of population that we want to shape for 바카라사이트 future in this country.¡±

Professor Maskell said he was proposing a return to fee-free education ¡°in 바카라사이트 spirit of thinking radically¡±, after education minister Jason Clare??¡°ideas that can help reshape and reimagine higher education¡±. Mary O¡¯Kane, who chairs 바카라사이트 Universities Accord panel, invited people to ¡°think outside of 바카라사이트 box¡± and ¡°be bold and lateral in your suggestions¡±.

Professor Maskell also criticised 바카라사이트 conceptual separation of direct and indirect research costs as a ¡°misleading¡± distraction that has contributed to 바카라사이트 cumulative underfunding of research.

¡°It should not be beyond 바카라사이트 capacity of governments and universities to agree to a methodology to arrive at a transparent estimated full cost of research that can be used as a benchmark for research funding policy,¡± his speech said. ¡°We should have clarity about 바카라사이트 full cost, so that government can decide to what extent 바카라사이트y will fund 바카라사이트 nation¡¯s research effort.¡±

john.ross@ws-2000.com