NUS criticised Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg for claiming in a speech yesterday to want to tackle the “poverty of opportunity” at a time when youth employment was approaching 1 million, over 150,000 applicants look set to miss out on university despite having the grades and a lost generation was being left by Government to face an uncertain future.
Aaron Porter, NUS President said:
“With youth unemployment pushing one million, savage education funding cuts and arbitrary limits on places, the Government is at risk of imposing poverty of opportunity on a generation of young people facing a very uncertain future.”
“Rather than belittling the achievements of those who have worked hard to achieve their results and aspire to better themselves and their life chances, Ministers should make it clear what on earth they expect them to do and how exactly they are going to help them when the door is being repeatedly slammed in their face as a result of Government cuts and restrictions."
"For Ministers to decry poverty of opportunity while presiding over this current crisis is cheap talk, but to stand by and do nothing as young people are left to sink or swim is a dereliction of duty. Abandoning this generation of young people would cause permanent scars to individuals and their families, society and the economy.”
"More widely, there are clearly serious issues with a funding system that is unable to support the hundreds of thousands of applicants who have made the grade, and leaves a quarter of applicants without a place. The discredited system of top-up fees exploits applicants' limited options by heaping £25,000 debt on top of the significant pressures they already face. Ministers must introduce a fair, progressive and sustainable alternative that supports rather than penalises students."