| Launching their policy on student funding in the city, they contended that the loan system was costing the country so much money that it would be cheaper to simply give young people the cash to study at university.
It would also remove from students the burden of debt which was preventing them fulfilling their academic potential and from making a fuller contribution to the nation’s economy following graduation.
SNP education spokeswoman, Fiona Hyslop MSP, said it was costing £1 billion a year in the UK, and £100 million in Scotland, to pay the interest subsidy on student loans.
Just giving students the money in maintenance grants would be less expensive, she stated, and would in fact save Scottish taxpayers £60 million a year.
In a barrage of statistics, she added that 34% of those who graduated in 1997, when loans were introduced, still can’t afford to start repaying them.
The Government’s estimate that it would take students five years to repay their loans after graduating had proved wildly over-optimistic, she said, as it was now taking many of them up to 13 years.
“The worry of debt is affecting their studies, and many of them are having to take on part-time jobs to reduce their borrowing, and this is also having an adverse effect on their studies,” she contended.
“They are then coming out of university saddled with debt which is taking them a long time to pay off. This reduces their earnings which is a big loss to the economy – and this is biting hard in a place like Dundee where students represent a significant proportion of the population.”
Students can claim a loan of just over £4000 a year (more for those from low income backgrounds), which means they graduate with an average debt of £16,500.
Under the loan endowment system in Scotland, they had to start repaying the money once their annual earnings reached £10,000, but next month the threshold will go up to £15,000.
From Friday they will also be made to pay an extra £2000 endowment fee on top of their loan debt. The fees will go into a hardship fund from which low income students can apply for bursaries.
Ms Hyslop said that recently the chancellor of Dundee University, Sir James Black, Scotland’s only living Nobel Prize winner, raised his concerns over student debts and the damage being caused to the Scottish education system.
She claimed, “Labour has let down Scotland’s education system and our students.
“It is incredible that more than one in three of those who graduated the year Labour came into power still cannot afford to even start paying back their student loans.
“Coupled with the increase in bankruptcies among graduates, it is clear the student loans system has been a disaster for Scotland.”
Ms Hyslop said there was straight choice between a fair and equitable system of maintenance grants or more crippling debt for graduates.
The SNP education spokeswoman formally launched at Dundee University her party’s policy paper on the issue, aimed at delivering a better deal for students, society, the government, taxpayers and the economy through a system of student maintenance grants rather than loans.
Stewart Hosie, SNP candidate for Dundee East at the forthcoming general election, said, “Dundee has benefited enormously from the colleges and universities here and the great contribution made by graduates to the life of the city.
“We should be encouraging more students to come to Dundee and other Scottish colleges and universities, rather than discouraging them.”
Joe Fitzptrick, his counterpart in Dundee West, added, “Sir James Black has it spot on. He said that if we want university graduates we should be prepared to help them.”
Mr Fitzpatrick said the £2000 charge being introduced on Friday is no April Fool’s joke.
“Graduates already carry a heavy burden of debt from their student days, and this makes it even worse,” he added. |
