20th February 2009
Evidence-based policy….policy-based Party
In 2005-2006 55.6% of Welsh domiciled students went to a Welsh higher education institution. In 2006/07 that figure increased to 60.3%
2006-07 was the first academic year in which the ban on top-up fees in Wales for Welsh domiciled students came into effect.
That means that an estimated 960 Welsh students, who would otherwise would have gone to English universities, decided to stay in Wales.
The distinctive Welsh policy on tuition fees is one of the great achievements of devolution; it has reversed the declining numbers of Welsh youth choosing to study, work and live in the country of their birth. It has begun the process of turning our national brain drain into a brain gain. All the more astonishing that Labour in the Assembly now wants us to ditch the policy and start exporting our most precious resource again: the skills and aspirations of our people.
The Labour Party is entitled to their policy but they have no right to impose it unilaterally on us as this was not envisaged in One Wales. A fair compromise would be to allow the enabling legislation to pass but delay the implementation by one year until 2011/12 after the Assembly elections. Parties can then present their policies anew to the electorate, and an incoming administration could decide whether to agree to continue to scrap the tuition fee grant. If the policy being proposed has wide support then waiting one year will not do much harm; if not, then in the interests of democracy we should prevent it being presented as a fait accompli. Plaid Cymru’s National Council that meets tomorrow needs no reminding that it voted through One Wales to create the One Wales Government. But this policy was never part of the deal.
2 Responses to “Evidence-based policy….policy-based Party”
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plaidcasnewydd says:
February 22nd, 2009 at 6:45 pm
Having more Welsh students is only one half of tackling the brain drain. It is crucial that there is a more diverse economy too, that meets the skills that are attained in university.
from a personal perspective I relocted back to Wales about 15 months ago, after living in London and abroad for the decade since graduation.
The combination of the recession and the nature of the welsh economy has meant a narrowing of my career horizons (coinciding perhaps incidentally with getting more involved in politics.)
If we are to gain brains, rather than train graduates who then ply there trade elsewhere then we need to encourage other industries to settle here… this is another topic though…
plaidcasnewydd.blogspot.com
alanindyfed says:
February 24th, 2009 at 11:33 am
The more Wales distances itself from the questionable policies put into practice by British Labour the better.
The scope for action is limited by the constraints of LCO approval required by Westminster and the undevolved sections of government, but the more Wales goes it alone the better for national independence and solidarity of consciousness within Wales.