President James A Garfield, a radical Republican, observed: "Next in importance to freedom and justice is popular education, without which neither freedom nor justice can be maintained." He had been a tireless anti-slavery campaigner advocating civil rights for African-Americans and most of all the need for an educated electorate.
The UN committee that oversees the implementation of the International Covenant on Economic Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) has stated in unequivocal terms: "Education is both a human right in itself and an indispensable means of realizing other human rights." The committee emphasizes the vital role education plays in empowering those groups and individuals who are vulnerable and susceptible to exploitation. Higher education shall be made equally accessible to all on the basis of capacity, by every appropriate means, and in particular by the progressive introduction of free education.
If a younger generation cannot, or is afraid to, incur a massive millstone of debt, their right of access to education is being severely curtailed, if not extinguished. This is a generation whose economic future is bleak in any event.
Last month the Office for Fair Access (Offa) reported that a quarter of universities had failed to meet their targets to admit substantially more disadvantaged students. Sir Martin Harris, its director, illustrated the shortfall by highlighting the position at Cambridge, where in 2009-10 12.6% of students came from homes with an annual income of less than ?25,000.
Public funding should be fair and follow the choices of students" and should be judged against the need to increase social mobility, the impact on student debt, a properly funded university sector, improvements in the quality of teaching, advancement in scholarship, and attracting "a higher proportion of students from disadvantaged backgrounds".
But then along came the market entrepreneur the following October in the form of the Browne report, which suggested universities should charge what they like. Meanwhile, the Lib Dems are wishing none of this had happened and the Labour party is wishing it had not voted against a rise in fees from ?3,000 ? which it now does support up to a level of ?6,000.
This is not the place to develop alternative economic strategies, but the debt crisis is not the fault of the public sector, let alone higher education.
Section 3 of the UK Human Rights Act 1998 gives effect to European Convention rights. One of those provides that "No person shall be denied the right to education." European case law suggests that states are under an obligation to afford an effective right of access to institutions of higher education that exist.
Interestingly, these issues are to be canvassed in a judicial review by two students challenging the increase in tuition fees with the assistance of Phil Shiner and the Public Interest Lawyers Group. Once again it is left to the efforts of ordinary people to raise fundamental challenges based on basic values.
Education is not a commodity and students are not consumers in a supermarket choosing which can of knowledge will attract the most wealth.
President James A Garfield, a radical Republican, observed: "Next in importance to freedom and justice is popular education, without which neither freedom nor justice can be maintained." He had been a tireless anti-slavery campaigner advocating civil rights for African-Americans and most of all the need for an educated electorate.
ReplyDeleteThe UN committee that oversees the implementation of the International Covenant on Economic Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) has stated in unequivocal terms: "Education is both a human right in itself and an indispensable means of realizing other human rights." The committee emphasizes the vital role education plays in empowering those groups and individuals who are vulnerable and susceptible to exploitation. Higher education shall be made equally accessible to all on the basis of capacity, by every appropriate means, and in particular by the progressive introduction of free education.
If a younger generation cannot, or is afraid to, incur a massive millstone of debt, their right of access to education is being severely curtailed, if not extinguished. This is a generation whose economic future is bleak in any event.
Last month the Office for Fair Access (Offa) reported that a quarter of universities had failed to meet their targets to admit substantially more disadvantaged students. Sir Martin Harris, its director, illustrated the shortfall by highlighting the position at Cambridge, where in 2009-10 12.6% of students came from homes with an annual income of less than ?25,000.
Public funding should be fair and follow the choices of students" and should be judged against the need to increase social mobility, the impact on student debt, a properly funded university sector, improvements in the quality of teaching, advancement in scholarship, and attracting "a higher proportion of students from disadvantaged backgrounds".
But then along came the market entrepreneur the following October in the form of the Browne report, which suggested universities should charge what they like. Meanwhile, the Lib Dems are wishing none of this had happened and the Labour party is wishing it had not voted against a rise in fees from ?3,000 ? which it now does support up to a level of ?6,000.
This is not the place to develop alternative economic strategies, but the debt crisis is not the fault of the public sector, let alone higher education.
Section 3 of the UK Human Rights Act 1998 gives effect to European Convention rights. One of those provides that "No person shall be denied the right to education." European case law suggests that states are under an obligation to afford an effective right of access to institutions of higher education that exist.
Interestingly, these issues are to be canvassed in a judicial review by two students challenging the increase in tuition fees with the assistance of Phil Shiner and the Public Interest Lawyers Group. Once again it is left to the efforts of ordinary people to raise fundamental challenges based on basic values.
Education is not a commodity and students are not consumers in a supermarket choosing which can of knowledge will attract the most wealth.