Northern Ireland Conservatives’ spokesperson, Annika Nestius-Brown, has urged the executive to reconsider its decision to charge students from Great Britain higher tuition fees than those from the rest of the EU to study in Northern Ireland.
“We were the first party to point out that variable student fees would mean students from other parts of the UK being treated unfairly. We welcome the fact that some MLAs have now come out against the discriminatory plans which were subsequently unveiled by Stephen Farry, the universities minister, but it’s deeply disappointing that the DEL Committee doesn’t feel that the issue merits debate on the floor of the Assembly.”
“This decision on fees was left to the last minute, but these plans will have lasting consequences, which will be felt across the whole of the UK, for years to come, and they deserve greater scrutiny. It’s absurd that a student from England or Scotland can be charged up to £9,000, while someone from the Republic of Ireland or Spain pays the frozen fee of £3,500.”
“The situation is blatantly unfair. It’s already creating resentment in Great Britain and ultimately it will be to the detriment of the United Kingdom - which will be a less coherent country, students - who will miss out on opportunities to broaden their horizons and our universities - where diversity and excellence will suffer. It's absolutely clear that we should be having a rethink now, rather than forcing through a hastily drawn up plan which we may come to regret later.”