PM speech on education.docx
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PM speech on education.docx
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PMspeechoneducation
PM’sspeechoneducation
TodayIwanttotalkaboutthefutureofuniversitiesinthiscountry.
We’veseentheprotests.
We’veseenthemarches.
We’veseenhowpassionatemanyofourstudentsareaboutthisissue.
Wellletmetellyouthis.
Iamjustaspassionate.
Justaspassionatethatyoungpeopleshouldhavethechancetogotouniversity,whatevertheirbackgroundorfamilyincome.
Justaspassionatethattheyshouldbeabletoleaveuniversitywithoutanunfairburdenofdebt.
Justaspassionatethatouruniversitiesshouldbeamongthebestintheworld.
Thedebategoingontodayisaboutthebestwayofachievingthesethings.
ButifI’mhonest,thepassioninthisdebateisdrowningoutsomeofthetruth.
SotodayIwanttoexplaintherealtruthaboutwhat’sgoingon,
whyweneedchangeandwhythechangeweareproposingisthebestoptionwe’vegot.
Let’sstartwithwhyweneedchange.
Putsimply,wejustcan’tstickwiththestatusquo.
Theuniversitysystemwe’vegottodayisunsustainable,uncompetitiveandunfair.
It’sunsustainablebecauseinthelastfiftyyearswe’veseenamassiveincreaseinthenumberofyoungpeoplegoingtouniversity.
Andyetthecurrentmodelofhighereducationfundingissimplynotprovidingenoughmoneytosupportthisgrowingnumberofstudents.
Infact,theBrowneReviewshowsthepublicfundingperstudentisnowlowerinrealtermsthanitwas20yearsago.
Wehavetoaddressthis.
Wesimplycannotallowouruniversitiestocontinuetofallbehindtheirinternationalrivals.
Justlookatwhat’shappeninginIndiaandChina.
Inthelastthreeyears,IndiahasbuilteightnewInstitutesofTechnology,twelveuniversitiesandsevennewInstitutesofManagement.
Andinthenextfifteenyears,thenumberofgraduatesfromChineseuniversitiesisexpectedtogrowfive-fold.
Thisisthecompetitionweface.
Sowhatdowedo?
Doweradicallyreducethenumberofstudentplacesanddenymanyofyoungpeoplethechancetogotouniversity?
No.
Wewantmorepeopletohavethechancetogotouniversity;notless.
Sowehavetofindanewwayoffundinghighereducationinthiscountry.
Thequestionishow?
Itwouldbeniceifwecoulddoitjustbyincreasinggovernmentspending.
Butwecan’t.
Evenatatimeofeconomicgrowth,governmentspendingalonecouldneverbeasustainablewayoffundingthegrowthinstudentnumbers.
Andrightnow,it’snotjustunsustainableinthelong-term,butfranklyunaffordableintheshort-termtoo.
I’mnotgoingtopatroniseyoubypretendingtherearepotsofmoneywecandelveinto.
Therearen’t.
We’reindeepdebt.
Andifyouwanttoknowhowseriousthatcanbe,justlookatwhat’sbeenhappeningtosomeofourEuropeanneighbours.
NotleastofcourseinIreland.
AtatimewhenmarketsaregrippedbyfearsaboutgovernmentfinancesacrossEurope.
It’sabsolutelyvitalthatwekeepBritainoutofthedangerzonebystickingtoourplansforgettingthepublicfinancesundercontrol.
Soifwecan’tincreasespendingshouldwehikeuptaxes?
Thatwouldmeanaskingpeopleonlowincomes,manyofwhomarestrugglingatthistime,tosubsidisehighereducationmorethantheydoalready.
Isaythat’sjustnotacceptable.
Weshouldn’taskthoseonlowincomestopaytaxestopropupanunaffordableuniversityfundingsystemthattheythemselvesdonotbenefitfromdirectly.
Infact,overthecourseofalife-time,agraduateearnsonaverageover£100,000morethansomeonewhodoesn’tgotouniversity.
Isn’titrightthatthosegraduates’contributionstothesystemshouldreflecttheadvantagestheyhaveenjoyed?
Wehavenochoice:
weneedchange,weneedtoputthefundingofouruniversitiesonasustainablefooting–andit’srightthatwhenitcomestodoingthis,successfulgraduatespaytheirshare.
There’sanotherreasonweneedchangeinouruniversitysystem.
Aswellasbeingunsustainableit’suncompetitive.
Yeswehavesomeoftheworld’sbestuniversities.
ButIbelievetheycanbeevenbetter.
Todaythestatusquoispreventingthat.
Atthemoment,mostuniversitiesgetmostoftheirmoneyfromgovernmentandalmostallofthemchargethemaximumfee.
Thatsystemsimplydoesn’tintroduceanygenuinecompetitionorchoice.
Thereisnorealincentiveforuniversitiestoimproveandgivestudentswhattheywant,andthatisdamagingtothequalityofhighereducation.
Soagain,weneedchange.
Buthere’sthebiggestreasonwecan’tjuststickwithhowthingsare.
Universitiesshouldbeakeypartofaneducationsystemthatisanengineforsocialmobility.
Theyshouldbeakeyvehiclethroughwhichpeoplefromthepoorestbackgroundsliftthemselvesup.
Buttoday,thatengine,thatvehicle–it’sstalled.
Thesystemisunfair.
Justlistentothis.
OxfordandCambridgetakemorestudentseachyearfromjusttwoschools–EtonandWestminster–thanfromamongthe80,000pupilswhoareeligibleforfreeschoolmeals.
Inthepastfewyearsthenumberofchildrenfrompoorerfamilieswhomakeittotopuniversitieshasactuallygonedown.
Andaswesawyesterday,21Oxbridgecollegestooknoblackstudentslastyear.
Ifwe’reseriousaboutsocialmobilitythesethingshavegottochange.
Nowwedon’tchangethemsimplybyfocusingonuniversities.
Indeedevidenceshowsthat’sit’sinvestmentinearlyyearsthatisthebiggestdriverofsocialmobility.
Bythetimechildrengettouniversityit’susuallywaytoolate.
Wehavemadeourchoice.
Achoiceinfavourofsocialmobility,infavourofafairersociety.
Ofacountrywhereyoucanescape–trulyescape–thecircumstancesofyourbirth.
That’swhyweareprotectingschoolsspendingandenhancingitfortheleastwell-off.
Spendingperpupilmaintainedeveninadifficulteconomicenvironment.
Freenurseryeducationfordisadvantagedtwo-year-olds.
Andapupilpremium,worthhundredsofpoundsperdisadvantagedpupil,allthewaythroughfrompre-schooltoUniversity.
Thesearethechoiceswe’remaking.
Thealternativeismaintainingthestatusquo.
Astatusquoinwhichapersonwhoiswell-offisseventimesmorelikelytogotouniversitythansomeonefromapoorbackground.
Thisistheappallingsituationwe’rein–andit’swhyeveryonewhocaresaboutfairnessshouldn’tbefightingchange.
Theyshouldbefightingforchange.
SoIthinkit’sclearthatlong-term,responsiblereformofhighereducationmeans:
Makingitmoresustainable,byaskingsuccessfulgraduateswhogoontoearnagoodsalarytomakeabiggercontribution.
Makingitmorecompetitiveandmoreresponsive–withstudentscallingtheshots,anduniversitiesbendingoverbackwardsforthem.
Butmostimportantly,makingitfairer–openingthedoorsofuniversitiestoeveryone,regardlessofwherethey’refrom.
Sohowdoweachievethis?
Nowsomepeoplesuggestthatagraduatetaxfitsthebill.
Underthissystem,oncestudentshavegraduatedandgotajob,theywouldpayasupplementtotheirincometax–potentiallythreeorfourpenceforeverypoundtheyearn.
Wehavetakenalonghardlookatthisoption.
Butitisnotthewayforward.
Firstoff,it’ssimplynotaffordable,particularlyintheshorttomediumterm.
There’sacrisisinthepublicfinancesnow.
ButLordBrowne’sreviewshowsthatapuregraduatetaxwillactuallytakeuntil2041toproduceenoughmoneytofullyfundhighereducationinourcountry.
Inthemeantime,itwillbegovernmentthatmakesuptheshortfall–addingbillionstopublicspendingandborrowing.
Second–itisnotresponsivetostudents.
Allfundingwouldbecentralised.
ThemoneywouldcomeintotheTreasury–anditwouldbeministersandcivilservantswhodecidewhereitgoes.
Underthissystem,therelationshipbetweenthestudentandouruniversitieswouldbeevenweakerthanitistoday.
Thatgivesthestudentnorealsayoverhowthingsshouldbedone.
That’sbadforstudents.Andit’sbadfordrivingupstandards.
There’sanotherwaythegraduatetaxisuncompetitiveandfranklyunworkable.
Ifyoudon’tliveinthiscountry,thetaxcan’tbecollected.
Thatwillencourageourgraduatestofindworkoverseas–abraindrainfromourshores.
Justimaginethat.
Creatingasystemwhereweputinthemoney,timeandefforttoeducateourbestandbrightestandit’sothercountriesandeconomiesthatbenefit.
That’scompletelycrazy.
It’snotsurprisingthatUniversitiesUKcan’tfindasinglecountrythat’sintroducedagraduatetax.
Third,it’salsonotactuallyasfairasyoumightthink–orasfairasthingscouldbe.
It’struethatthosewhogoontogetthehighestpaidjobswillenduppayingbackmore.
Butunderagraduatetax,theverylowestearners–thoseonjust£6,475ayear–willhavetopaybacktoo.
Idon’tthinkthat’sfair.
It’ssalowerthresholdthanalreadyexistsforpayingbackstudentcontributions–letalonethehigherthresholdwewillintroduce.
What’smore,becausetaxescannotbecollectedfrompeoplelivinginothercountries,wecouldgetasituationwhereforeignstudentsenduppayinglessthansomeUKgraduates.
That’sbiasedagainstpeoplelivinghere–andagain,Idon’tthinkthat’sfair.
Here’sanotherreasonwhyit’snotfair.
Anopen-endedgraduatetaxwouldmeanyouliterallykeeponpayingthegovernmentuntilyoustopworking.
Andthismeanssomepeoplewillfindthemselvespayingmany,manytimesmorethanthecostoftheircourse.
Justthinkaboutwhatthatmeans.
Itmeanstheambitiouspeoplewhoputthemselvesthroughuniversity,whoworkhardanddowelloffthebackoftheirowneffortswillbepenalisedfortherestoftheirlife.
Isthatfair?
No,it’snot.
Again,thesearethepeoplewhoshouldpaythemosttaxintheUK,butunderthissystemtheycouldl
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