Oxford University has labelled government concessions over cuts to the funding of second degrees as “window-dressing” and “inadequate”.
Dr Philip Healy, Director of Public Programmes for the Department of Continuing Education, was speaking out as part of a campaign against the government’s ELQ policy. The proposals could result in Oxford students studying for second degrees paying up to £7,000 in tuition fees.
The ELQ proposal promises to transfer £100 million of funding from those taking equivalent or lower qualifications (ELQs) to those studying for first degrees.At a Commons’ Innovation, Universities and Skills Select Committee meeting on 17 January, the government promised a number of concessions.
These include an increase in funding allocation for part-time students from £20 to £30 million and a review of the impact of the ELQ policy on vulnerable subjects such as theology. A series of subjects, such as chemistry, foreign languages and teacher training, have been exempted from the proposal.
However Professor David Latchman, Master of Birkbeck, University of London, criticised the proposed changes. Speaking at the Select Committee meeting, he accused them of trying to “cherry pick” which students would be affected by the funding crisis. Professor Latchman also insisted that further debate was necessary.
Minister of State for Lifelong Learning, Further and Higher Education Bill Rammell defended the policy, stating, “I believe it is right that people who have never had the chance to go to university should be given priority over those who have already received tax payers’ support to get a degree.”
However he demanded “some minor but important changes” to the original proposals. He advocated “an annual review of exempted subjects to assess whether subjects need to be added or indeed removed from the list.”
Dr Philip Healy condemned the system of exempting certain subjects from the ELQ proposal.He explained, “There is a whole raft of subjects which are important either for the economy or the welfare of society. The so-called cherry picking is far too narrow.”
He also noted that the funding increase from £20 to £30 million was “a completely inadequate increase. What is happening is that the government is under pressure from all sides and its own backbenchers in particular and the government clearly feels it is necessary to do something to respond to the almost universal criticism that this ELQ proposal has created. So this £10 million, it is window-dressing.”
