Robbing the Poor: Scotland’s angry wee Nat Nicola Sturgeon cuts £10 million from ‘flagship’ SNP scheme to get more disadvantaged pupils to university, Scotland’s poor kids are systematically being froze out of higher education by the party of the rich, the SNP don’t believe in fairness, equality and social justice, it’s a sound bite con trick

Dear All

The title of this blog is The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow University, I set up this blog to highlight what happened to me at Glasgow University, but in a wider sense, the blog also covered the theme that working class Scots don’t get a fair crack of the whip in the University sector.

Does the Alastair Sim mean anything to you?

Here is a bio to get you up to speed.

http://www.universitiesuk.ac.uk/highereducation/Pages/USNewDirector.aspx#.Vtb8LPmzKm4

Having read this, you might be tempted to say ‘smart guy’ got lots of degrees, but what isn’t on the CV is that Alastair Sim is a stinking apologist defending the discrimination of working class Scots kids not getting into University in large numbers. People like Sim couch their crap in two ways, one, Universities are ‘concerned’ and two more needs to be done to tackle inequality.

Who is responsible for inequality, a question which is in the main not addressed, instead the focus by Sim and others is placed on the academic achievements of the pupils coupled with some rubbish that the universal idea is based on ability to learn.

This is bollocks!

Let’s take medicine for example, do you know that there is a screening process, not admit but to weed out people. The majority of medics don’t come from working class housing schemes, so where do they come from?

The come from upper and lower middle class families.

The Scottish National Party led by grievance merchant Nicola Sturgeon screams long and loud that the Nats are a party of fairness, equality and social justice, fighting for social justice for those discriminated in society.

That is as I have always said a lie, Nicola Sturgeon and co aren’t helping the poor get up and out, they are marginalising the poor.

Where’s the evidence?

It was always right in front of your nose, you might not have spotted it if you listen to Sturgeon’s soundbytes rather than her deeds.

A flagship scheme to get thousands more Scottish pupils from poorer backgrounds to university has been subjected to a massive £10 million cut. In the college sector, the fog of mergers was used to cover that 155,000 college places, the traditional route out of poverty for working class kids and adult returners has been cut.

Poor people it seems face more barriers getting educated than their rich counterparts.  

The Scottish Funding Council (SFC) who I previously blogged on as needing to be split into two separate entities, one dealing with universities and the other dealing with colleges has stopped the payments citing financial pressure.

Where did the pressure come from?

The SNP Government, I remember Angela Constance from my time from Glasgow University, she was President of the SRC (the student body), in the main I found the SRc to be little better than a talking shop with no real effect on betterment for students, which is why so few people voted in their elections.

The SNP like to say that they are ambitious for Scotland, but not it seems if you live in a sink estate.

By cutting the scheme there will be a rollback on poorer kids getting into university, Liz Smith, education spokeswoman for the Scottish Conservatives, who highlighted the change in policy, said the SNP was "clearly not interested" in widening access.

And she is right, however, the Scottish Conservative’s idea of introduction tuition fees which is the policy in England doesn’t help the poor, kids from poor backgrounds don’t want to be saddled with incredibly high debt in an uncertain future.

Anyway Smith said:

"The SNP stated categorically that it is a priority to help those from less privileged backgrounds get a place at university, but evidence like this tells a completely different story. It’s already bad enough that the Scottish Government is failing to close the attainment gap and that it is failing to address the decline in literacy and numeracy, but now we learn that because of the budget choices made by the SNP the widening access policy is facing major challenges."

The SNP right across the board in education at whatever level have failed to bring Scotland an education that people can be proud of, it is not joined up thinking, it’s not fair and the status quo of discrimination still exists.

Mary Senior, Scotland Official from the UCU lecturers' union described the move as "disappointing".

She added:

"If ensuring people from non-traditional backgrounds can study at university is truly an aim we need to look at bringing more public investment into post-16 education.
A spokeswoman from Universities Scotland, which represents the sector, said the additional places in the past three years had helped to reduce competition. If they are gone, universities will be faced with more difficult decisions between very able applicants from very different backgrounds. The extra places are one part of a much bigger range of initiatives that universities run to widen access including working with schools and communities to raise aspiration and attainment.

Senior went on:

“We know that widening access remains an important priority to the Scottish Government, as it does to universities and it would be very helpful to have a conversation with government and the SFC to understand this decision in that wider context."

Senior is wrong, this issue of discrimination isn’t an important priority to the Scottish Government, 8 years in government and they can’t end discrimination, policies introduced that are no more than window dressing and tat for political gain re votes.

Who is kidding who?

Nicola Sturgeon benefited from education, but I would say that she benefited more from hate to get where she is, education is a tool, but if you can’t access it your chances of gaining social mobility is near zero. Nicola Sturgeon is pulling up the ladder on the poor getting on in life. There is no interest in the SNP or appetite for helping people unless the SNP see a benefit to them.

No one is challenging the status quo on discrimination, and certainly not Nicola Sturgeon or the previous Education Secretaries; you see there is no depth to the SNP, no plans to give others a future.

When a mother hands Nicola Sturgeon a kid for a photo op to convey the impression that she is a ‘caring mum’, how ironic would it be if the same kid grows up to a future of despair because Sturgeon rob them of it?

Scotland needs a change of government, but more than that it needs better politicians to tackle the people who discriminate against the poor head on.

What is needed is fairness and removal of apologists like Alastair Sim!

Yours sincerely

George Laird
The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow University