By IRNA,
London : Two sixth-form students have launched legal proceedings to prevent the British government from allowing universities to treble tuition fees to £9,000 a year from September 2012.
“I’ve been excited looking at university courses over the last year but was devastated about the rise in tuition fees which means I’m left having to decide whether a degree is worth being in such large debt,” said one of the students, Katy Moore.
“I know people who are put off by the fees – myself included. I’m not sure whether I want to go to university knowing I will have a giant debt,” said the other student, Callum Hurley.
“The government is risking the future of our country and its ability to produce professionals so vitally needed in our economy,” Hurley warned.
Their solicitors, Public Interest Lawyers (PIL) have started the first formal step in commencing an application for Judicial Review, by sending a ‘Pre-action Protocol Letter’ to Business Secretary Vince Cable MP, who has until March 4 to respond.
The legal action is brought on two grounds, firstly that the increase breaches Article 14 of the European Convention on Human Rights, in particular that it discriminates against students from poorer social origin and ethnic minorities.
The second is that the government has failed to give “due regard” to promoting equality of opportunity as is required under the country’s Race Relations, Sex Discrimination and Disability Discrimination Acts.
It has been calculated that with the addition of living costs, many students will leave university with debt in the region of £40,000 after attending a standard three-year degree course or much more for longer courses, such as medicine, or when also seeking postgraduate qualifications.
“If the government really thinks that the prospect of £40,000 of debt will not deter students from poorer backgrounds entering higher education it is burying its head in the sand,” said Phil Shiner(pictured) of PIL.
“The rise in tuition fees is going to have a huge impact on the demographic of those in higher education and to pretend otherwise is simply disingenuous,” Shiner said.
“The government has rushed these changes through parliament in the wake of the 2010 spending review without pausing for real thought, analysis or consultation on the likely significant impact of the coalition policy. It is disgraceful and our clients seek to challenge its lawfulness,” he said.
Approval for the increase in fees was rushed through parliament last December amid mass protests and sit-in staged by students around the UK.
PIL has already announced that it is launching legal action against police for the “unlawful imprisonment” of students during the protests in London, which were the biggest since the height of opposition to the 2003 Iraq war.