The government just doesn't get it - Why are the middle classes ignored or assumed to be rich ?

As a means of winning over wavering Lib Dem MPs, the government is supposedly offering the possibility of students from poorer backgrounds the possibility of having their tuition fees paid for a year or two.

My simple response is, what about the middle classes ?

An 18 year old who has middle class parents earning £22k a year each (above the limit at which the government would have students repaying their loans) are no better off than students from poorer backgrounds. These middle class parents are not rich, they have no large disposable income, and they certainly do not have the money to bankroll children through university. But because these parents are not categorised as "poor" their children will have to pay out more in fees over three years than either of their parents earn in a single year.

The whole debate over tuition fees has seen the Lib Dems stuck in a ridiculous rut constantly arguing how Vince Cable's proposed system is fairer for the very poorest students, but totally ignores how unfair it is on those whose parents are not poor, but not exactly rolling in cash.

The thought of having £27000 of debts would almost certainly have put me off going to university, and it will have that effect too on many other children who are not loaded, but simple make ends meet.

Meeja studies

I found my self nodding my head in some level of agreement with the Tories when they stated that there needs to be some way of differentiating a media studies A level from a maths or chemistry A level.

For years, perhaps unfairly, media and film studies seem to have taken stick from the press for their perceived "easy ride" way of getting an A level or a degree. This may be unfair, but it does remind me of a chap I knew at university who excelled at nothing other than getting drunk. The be quite honest and fair, he really was not that bright. He told me he was studying a degree in media and film. One of his modules was on the films of James Stewart. Well as soon as he said this I started eulogising about The Glenn Miller Story, Mr Smith Goes to Washington, The Rear Window, Vertigo, Harvey, and of course, It's a Wonderful Life.

And what was the chap's response ? "What ... oh ... I don't know them". What the hell had he been studying if I knew more about James Stewart films than him ?

For me it justified the prejudice that some people study subjects which are ultimately worthless and really not worthy of equality with other subjects. Of course this is grossly unfair and there are, I am sure, some media courses that are really tough and genuinely a challenge but perhaps these need some form of assessment to make them stand out from other media courses.

If you want to know the sort of stuff media studies students should know then click HERE to do the BBC media studies test. I scored 6/7.

Minister for students - Another daft idea ?

If I were a student still, and I have been a student under "New Labour", given the extra-ordinary debts students now have, Labour's broken promises when they pledged that they would introduce legislation to "prevent tuition fees", and subsequently introduced them, I would take little solice from Labour appointing a Minister for Students.

If Ministers actually worked in the interests of those they are supposed to represent, then it my be a cause for some joy, but anyone who has any experience of this Labour government knows that Minister's are there to make cuts in the right places, make excuses for the government's foul ups, find statistics to justify their decisions and avoid answering real questions. Far from being advocates who argue on behalf of groups, Labour Ministers act more like Second World War German Soldiers in the occupied Soviet Union "just following orders".

So if I were a student, the fact that the government has now appointed a Minister for students would be no reason for a party.

Degree classifications and university names - Do they mean anything at all ?

The BBC reports that degree courses and classifications are not comparable between courses. This would be obvious to most people who have any experience of going to University, but questions ought to be asked of the relevant authorities as to why Ofsted is not doing its job here.

My own personal experience on my own course when at Coventry University (an ex poly) was that when at the end of the first year we had to choose our specialism from a choice politics, history or international relations, some friends of mine opted for international relations because, as they pointed out, "the I.R. tutors always mark more generously". Personally, that didn't sway me and I opted for politics.

Then there was another example that comes to mind still. I wrote what I believed to be an epic essay with the title "To what extent was revisionism within the Labour Party a break from traditional socialism". I have to say it was the best essay I ever wrote. When I got it back I was gutted to get only 67%. I spoke to the lecturer about it and he explained that it was the best essay he had marked using that title. He then went on to explain that if I wanted a "first" I was at the wrong University. I enquired why that was and he explained that he also marked and taught at another University nearby and that he had used the same title for an essay there. The difference was that at the other University, from thirty essays handed in, he was expected to award five or six "firsts" for the essays, no matter how good they actually were. He re-iterated, "it would have been a first at the University of X. Just be grateful that you've earned your degree the right way as we mark your essays properly in this department, even if degrees from the other Midlands University are considered to be more prestigious."

I have to say it didn't make me feel good and I somewhat resented the fact that this other University, so highly regarded, should band it's degrees to ensure that people achieved firsts, even if they hadn't earned them.

If that was happening in 1997, I doubt things have changed much since then. Again, it begs the question "What is the point of Ofsted inspecting courses and the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority existing if they don't monitor these things ?"