General Chat

Ah but you have to remember it isn't 'what' the degree is in that really counts, ( unless it is specific like law or medicine etc) it is the fact that you can study at the level required, do your research, put it on paper in a coherent and cohesive manner ( something I'm not managing at all well tonight lol) .

I looked at a job the other day...in research, something we on here all know how to do...but the employer needed 'proof' of that...ie a degree, and they would only consider applications from graduates.

Depends what you consider to be a silly degree Joy.

I, along with some others, met with Shaun Woodward on Friday. Three of the others are doing a BA(hons) degree in Game Art which when they graduate will enable them to get jobs developing computer games. Some would say this is a 'silly degree' but computer games is one of our biggest industries at the moment. These three will be able to get well paid jobs and eventually be able to earn well in excess of the £21,000 required to pay back their loans.

and they want to stop the silly degrees
whos gonna get a top job with a degree in beckham studies

where has common sense gone

These are the things that bother me ..
1 if our children go to uni and end up with a £27,000 debt ...and have to earn £20,000 before paying back how will my son do it coz he wants to be a paramedic and knows they dont get paid that amount?

2 If he never earns that amount WHEN will the goverment get OUR money back to pass onto the next lot of students to go to uni?

3. If a child is boarder line at school and knows it .....they may decide not to work harder to get themselves into £27,000 debt .....surely this will result in less passes at school poorer school league tables and more problems in classes . Who will suffer then??

Odd thorts I know but .......what the h*ll is going on in the country??

Liar lol

Chaotic, I'll be about 50 by then ;) Maybe they'll borrow it back from Ireland?

Uggers in 30 years I'm going to be 69 lol

What I really want to know is where is the government going to find the money for these tuition fees from?

We're all different, Chaotic - if someone offered me that amount of money to go back to university and study, which I loved with a passion, and to pay it back on those terms I would snatch their hand off:)

We're probably going round in circles now but as far as I understand, there is going to be an increase in scholarship funding and penalties for universities charging over £6000 and not taking students from worse off backgrounds. Plus, if you never earn over 21 grand (oh to reach the giddy heights of that income), the debt is written off after 30 years I think. I personally wouldn't worry a toss about a debt that I didn't have to pay off at more than about 30 quid a month.

Of course the ones I mentioned are not the only ones and I'm not seeking to make narrow political points.

It appears people are just to accept their lot then and don't even think of trying to get equality of opportunity for all.

Don't worry some of us will not go quietly into the niight,thank you very much.Any mention of Marx and Lenin just won't wash I'm afraid,you can call me an extremist all you like,It won't stop me fighting for a better life for all.

Regards
William Russell Jones.

I disagree Uggers. I know that I considered approx £10,000 of debt manageable when I decided to do a degree. However, if I was looking at approx £27,000 I'd definitely be having second, possibly third, thoughts. It's all very well people saying well you only have to start paying it back once you earn £21,000 p.a. but it's still a debt hanging over you, not to mention the interest it's incurring.

Joy totally agree with you about the red jumpers ;-) *she says looking down at the red jumper she's wearing.

Rita,what a frightening time you had as a child! it was just a bit before me, only a bit!!! and how I admire you for creating your own opportunties in a very difficult era, no government help there!!!! as you say keeping on about the advantages some children have over others is just plain boring! William,why do you only talk about Messrs Cameron,Osbourne and Clegg for their disproportionet advantages? when a good number of Labour MP's went to Private Schools, and came from 'affluent ' homes, even sending their children to these same Schools, Harriet Harmen to name but one. How hypocritical is that!!! As for Lenin and Marx?, theory was a wonderful thing, reality turned out to be' Oh so different!!' leading to that monster Stalin!! where elitism was alive and well!! freedom of speech, where was that?!!! we are where we are and I do believe that our politicians of all complections are serious about Education from the earliest age, which is certainly an enormous improvement from when I was a child, when less able children were written off at an early age! As you say Chris, there will always be have and have nots, Rags to Riches, Riches to Rags, it was ever thus, and yes, I would HATE to be the Queen, I think like you that she does a brilliant job, certainly better than some Grey faced President, shooting by in an Armour plated Car with hardly a glance at the population!

That's never going to happen. It will always be easier for a lawyer's child to become a lawyer and a doctor's child to become a doctor but I do agree that the opportunities should be there for those who have the drive to succeed - and I don't think that the increase in fees will change that.

i think everybody should be given the same opportunitys
rich poor black white and those wearing red jumpers ect

I think William's point is that the poor should have the same opportunities as the rich do, including access to higher education.

Certainly Joy. When teachers have the fancy qualifications, ie doctorates, then they should indeed be paid as university lecturers are. In the meantime...

William - there will always be the 'have' and the 'have nots'. Now some of the 'have nots' work hard, grasp life's opportunities and end up as a 'have'. In other circumstances some of the 'have' will not look after their inheritence etc and end up as 'have not's. Clogs to clogs in 3 generations. For instance I would not envy the Queen her life style - she has paid for it through hard work, no time to call her own, can't have a headache or a bad period (I do realise she does not have them now) and at the age of 85 she is still working a dammed sight harder than a lot of youngsters. Wealth cannot buy two important things - health and happiness.

Can I just point out that they will also be paying considerably more tax than those on minimum wage.

uggers i just think they should be paid the same rates as teachers
after all thats what they are doing

they just have a fancy name for it

Joy, to be fair the more experienced lecturers do even more unpaid hours - when I was at university, especially in my final year, I had meetings with tutors at the weekends because I was working in the week and they were often teaching in the evenings. I didn't come across any who didn't work very hard or seemed to care how much of their own time they put into it.

It's shocking? Why for goodness sake? Given preparation time that's £11 an hour. Add an hour's marking time and it's just over £7 an hour. Quite reasonable, I'd have thought.

Gwynne