Letters
Dear sir and madam,
Many students will be aware of the impending threat of top-up fees, and some will have read your article on the subject in last week's edition of Oxford Student, which argued that top-up fees may soon be a reality. Those who feel strongly about this may wish to campaign against top-up fees, as many of us have against tuition fees. Unfortunately that course of action
did not prove effective against one type of fees, so is unlikely to
against another. The article also implied that there was a conspiracy amongst university dons to introduce top-up fees, such as your OUSU sabbatical source who "doubts the integrity of some of the university's figures". Contrary to this, I know many figures in authority who are completely honest about the
likely establishment of top-up fees, some of whom have discussed their implementation with me in considerable detail.
Even if free higher education in Britain were to end, most students and
dons would wish Oxford University to remain an institution where admission
is based on merit and not wealth. This will not be possible unless
individual Colleges have sufficient bursaries and grants to fund any
student with the requisite ability, regardless of family finances.
Energy spent campaigning against the government's education policy would
be better used in ensuring that Colleges do have adequate academic
endowment funds, and the mechanism for distributing these fairly and
efficiently. Although Anneliese Dodds, according to the same article,
suggests that "it would take Oxford too long to raise the money from
donations", Magdalene College Cambridge has managed to raise
500,000 in six months.
Perhaps those holding JCR or OUSU positions, and those standing for
election should bare this in mind.
Yours faithfully, Alastair Brown (Exeter, ex-JCR President)
Patrick Thomson (Worcester)
8th Jun 2000