Responding to First Minister Carwyn Jones’ interview today, where he said that he has “ruled out means-testing” for university tuition fee grants if Welsh Labour retains power in the upcoming assembly election, Angela Burns, an education spokesperson for the Welsh Conservatives, said:
“The First Minister’s ruling out of means-testing shows utter contempt for the work and expertise of Professor Sir Ian Diamond – who hasn’t even yet published the full findings of his report – and arrogance in the face of a number of policy leaders, who have warned him of the threat this unworkable policy poses to the future of HE in Wales.
“Welsh Conservatives are committed to replacing the current policy with a progressive system of living cost support to enable students from all walks of life to get to university. Living costs are a far bigger barrier to accessing HE – a view supported by the NUS – and a constructive plan to help students in this area is key.
“Labour’s current policy only serves to gather vast amounts of Welsh public money and dump it at the front door of English universites. All the while, our HE sector continues to struggle. It’s unfair – it’s disadvantaging Wales – and it’s got to stop.
“Any decision relating to the future of tuition fee funding must be evidence based and not the desperate words of a man staring into an electoral abyss.“
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