PM speech on education.docx

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