Christian students protest over unfair tuition fee rise

Hilary Topp

Christian students have reacted with anger to the Lord Browne Review of Higher Education and Student Funding which recommends that universities in England should be able to charge any level of tuition fees.

Hilary Topp, National Coordinator of the Student Christian Movement (SCM) said: "For us this is an issue of justice - access to Higher Education should be based on ability, not the ability to pay. We are very concerned that a substantial increase in tuition fees will deter applicants from poorer backgrounds, and will enslave students to a lifetime of debt."

SCM are calling on the government to give a higher priority to education funding, including Higher Education. The proposed increases in tuition fees could leave graduates with more than £40,000 of debts whilst at the same time the government is planning to spend £76 billion on renewing the Trident nuclear weapons system.

Charlotte Thomson, a student at the University of Birmingham, said: "As a Christian student, my worry is not for those of us who are already in Higher Education, as we are in some sense lucky, but for those who are yet to consider University as an option. This will deter many people who could otherwise have had a very successful University career, which is definitely not fair."

For more information on SCM see: www.movement.org.uk/