UCU response to CBI education report

The union said that the 'tired business rhetoric' in the report from the CBI's Higher Education Task Force added nothing new to the debate on university funding, and called on all the political parties to seize the initiative and ensure a proper debate ahead of next year's general election.
 
UCU general secretary, Sally Hunt, said: 'The silence on the future of higher education from the main political parties is allowing tired business rhetoric to be viewed as a real contribution to the debate. The proposals in the CBI report offer absolutely nothing new and merely list the obvious ways to increase student debt. To suggest that a rise in tuition fees is inevitable because the CBI favours that approach is quite incredible, particularly with the country in recession.
 
'We need a fair system where every potential student has the opportunity to maximise their potential. Increasing fees, or the other financial barriers that so many students and parents come up against when considering university, is certainly not the way to deliver that system. The political parties need to come out and make it quite clear where they stand on the future of university funding so the electorate can make an informed choice at the ballot box next year.'