News
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ISSUE 5 / 19th OCTOBER 2015 WWW.MANCUNION.COM
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set a target to double the number of disadvantaged students in higher education by the year 2020. It has been quoted that lower-income students are currently 2.5 times less likely to progress to university than their better-off peers. Earlier this year, Professor Madeleine Atkins, Chief Executive of HEFCE, expressed the importance of increasing the numbers and success of disadvantaged students in higher education. She said: “We should now focus on establishing which interven-
tions are working most effectively to educate the graduates the country needs. HEFCE will work with universities and colleges to implement methods to evaluate what kinds of activities work best across the whole student lifecycle and into employment.” She also stated that the work done in this area would be used in the Teaching Excellence Framework. Although at an early stage, the planned proposal has received a mixed response. Some have praised the move, suggesting that it may force
universities to place greater emphasis on attracting students from state schools. Other members of the public, however, have expressed doubt toward how effective the move would be. There have been concerns that university staff will be tempted to pass lower-performing students due to the financial incentive, creating an imbalance in how much work is expected of the students. Michael Spence, Education Officer at the Students’ Union, expressed con-
cern that the government was continuing to increase the cost of higher education while making these attempts to help the less well-off. “Supporting students from lower income backgrounds is of paramount importance,” he said. “However, I seriously doubt this government’s commitment to these students. They are doing this in the context of (once again) raising fees, abolishing maintenance grants and freezing the threshold for new graduates.”
Photo: Chris Potter @Flickr
Opinion:
How do you measure a nation’s success? Photo: oddwick @Flickr
P26 Photo: Wikimedia Commons
Lifestyle: Fame is fickle; clinging on is hard
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Food & Drink: Indy Man Beer Con review
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Games: Manchester Play Expo 2015
NUS President joins national campaign to stay in Europe NUS President Megan Dunn supports Britain Stronger in Europe, and challenges the Brexit campaign and its views on the EU Elena Losavio Reporter Britain Stronger In Europe, the main national campaign to keep the UK in the European Union (EU), was launched on Monday the 12th of October. Megan Dunn, President of the NUS, and Janet Beer, ViceChancellor of the University of Liverpool, joined the board of the campaign. Politicians from several parties, including Labour, Conservatives, Liberal Democrats, and Greens, together with eminent businesspeople and others working in arts and entertainment are involved in this campaign. An in-out EU referendum will be held in the UK by the end of 2017, according to the Conservatives’ election manifesto. The electorate will be asked to vote if Britain should stay in or leave the EU. British, Irish and Commonwealth citizens over 18 years of age who live in the UK will be eligible to vote. In addition, people who have a British nationality and have lived abroad for less than 15 years can also
cast their vote. EU citizens, unless they are from Ireland, Malta or Cyprus, cannot vote. In 1975, the UK had a nationwide referendum in order to decide if Britain should have continued to be a member of the European Economic Community (EEC). At the time, more than 67 per cent of voters cast their votes in support of the campaign to be in the EEC. Since the creation of the EU, many projects and collaborations, particularly for young professionals and students, were instated between the 28 European countries, such as the Erasmus Exchange Programme, a key partnership. Since 1987 over 200,000 UK students, and over 3,000,000 Europe-wide, have been abroad to study or work with the Erasmus scholarship without worrying about expensive Visas. According to NUS President Megan Dunn, about 15,000 UK students joined the programme in 2012 alone. Reflecting on the EU’s influence on UK education, she wrote in The Independent: “The EU supports our education sector in Britain and ploughs close to a billion pounds a year into higher education fund-
Head News Editor: Jenny Sterne Deputy News Editor: William Brown Deputy News Editor (Science & Technology): Andy van den Bent-Kelly news@mancunion.com
ing and research alone. There are students up and down the country today benefitting directly from the courses and resources that come with this money. This income is increasingly important. “EU funding now provides an additional 15 per cent on top of the UK government’s own science and research budget. If we sleepwalked out of the EU, this funding—or at the very least our influence over it—would be at risk.” She highlighted that for UK students, whom she represents, staying in or leaving the EU is not only an issue concerning money, but also and above all an issue of multicultural and international identity. She added: “I, like most young people I speak to, simply do not recognise the picture of Britain painted by those campaigning for us to leave the EU. “Students in Britain do not fear today’s modern, diverse world. We fear isolation, not internationalism. We do not want to turn the clock back and whilst we recognise the world is a complex place, the answer is to campaign for change together, not quit and walk away.”
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The Mancunion is the official student newspaper of the University of Manchester., established in 1969 with a readership of around 20,000. It is printed weekly for 20 editions and is distributed across campus and the city. All writers are volunteers and new contributors are always welcome. You can get involved by turning up to a meeting, the times of which are listed on the Mancunion website’s Join page. We gladly accept contributors from outside the University of Manchester. The Mancunion is part of the Manchester Media Group, along with Fuse FM and Fuse TV. This body encompasses all of the Union’s official media outlets, and organises training, outside speakers, and social events for Manchester students interested in student media. If you have any comments, questions, or complaints, or would like to contribute, please e-mail the Editor-in-chief or Deputy Editor-in-chief.