News Editor Jacob Leverett interviews John Denham MP - Image Credit: Alex Harries

John Denham, the Secretary of State for Innovations, Universities and Skills, visits the University and meets students.

During his visit to Portsmouth, John Denham, who has the responsibility within government for policy surrounding universities, was asked about his opinion on the current state of education and how he sees the future of Higher education.

“I suppose the most obvious point is that, for a country like ours, in the 21st century the only way we can compete and be prosperous in the future is for us to invest in the future, and the only we can make sure everyone in our society can share in that prosperity is to develop our skills and talents.

There can’t be a more important activity than education, obviously education at school but also college and university, much of our future as country depends on what we do in our universities and colleges.”

Many students have significant financial difficulties with debt and struggle with the moral issues behind charging students large amounts of money for their education, many politically motivated students including those at our own university spend a great deal of time and energy opposing fees.

As John Denham is the minister responsible for universities we asked how he can justify students being forced to pay for their education.

“What we justify is a fair contribution, towards the overall cost of their education which is very largely financed by the taxpayer. It is pretty much a one way bet, you’re investing in your own future you can expect to benefit from it, the taxpayer is most of the costs of your education that’s a fair outcome”.

Tuition fees have been increasing steadily in recent years with the government introducing Top-up fees in 2004. This system demands that all new Higher Education students pay around £3,000 a year for their education.

Plans are currently being proposed to lift the cap and charge students up to £15,000 per a year.

The government has maintained that the fees are fair and justified but student rights groups question the fairness of the system.

Also during the visit, Mr Denham, the Member of Parliament responsible for Higher Education, met with students and spent time discussing the future of higher education funding with Students’ Union President Elle Gray and representatives of the Universities Politic and Labour societies.

The discussions formed part of the minister’s one-day visit to the University, which also included touring the Expert centre to witness students practicing medical techniques on realistic human mannequins, and meeting with University Vice-Chancellor John Craven and other high level staff.

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To be honest and serious there should be fees for coming to university, so many students pick fun degrees without really thinking if they will benefit from it in the future. Sure some fees seem exsessive but education isn't cheap and you should expect to make this back easily in the future. I picked Engineering which is one of the most in need industries in UK. Havn't looked back.

Jon (Engineering) - Fri, 11 Apr 2008