Yet more funding disappointment, as the HEFCE ‘Higher Education Funding Council for England’ has declared it will phase out ELQ ‘Equivalent or Lower Qualifications’ funding.
This will prevent potential students receiving financial help towards any course they wish to take, that is equivalent to or lower than any previous qualifications they may hold, regardless of subject.
£ 30,000,000.00 will be withdrawn from ELQ funding commencing this year.
This clearly stifles anyone wishing to study a different subject, who are unable to meet the high costs of further part-time education. To put things in perspective, I’m currently at first year under-grad level, and the costs without financial support would have been approximately £ 1,700.00 to date. With pitiful pay rises over the last few years, it’s unlikely I could have met these costs. For people in more financially constrained situations, the idea of further education, would not even be worth considering.
The only exceptions are disabled students, and students from Northern Ireland. Vice Chancellor, Professor Brenda Gourley of the OU reported…
“It is with a combination of frustration and disappointment that we note the outcome of the consultation by the Higher Education Funding Council for England into the withdrawal of funding for equivalent or lower qualifications.”
“It is reassuring to note some of the decisions of the HEFCE board, including consideration to be given to the idea of exempting students who receive the Disabled Students Allowance. In addition, the decision that Open University students studying in Northern Ireland will not be affected by the funding changes answers the OU’s call for these students to be treated in the same way as ELQ students at other institutions in Northern Ireland.”
“However, it is disappointing to see that – notwithstanding the decision to review annually the list of subjects for which ELQ students will be funded – some subjects for which the University has suggested ELQ funding continues remain omitted from the list of exemptions; they include ICT and computing. Equally compelling cases for extending exemptions to include specific groups of students, such as those on low incomes or women returning to work after caring responsibilities, have not been accepted by the HEFCE Board.”
“It is, furthermore, the fundamental principle of the funding changes for ELQ students – rather than the implementation of the changes on which the funding council was consulting – that remains of most concern. The new policy discourages students from upskilling or reskilling, and it discourages institutions from catering to them. The negative impact on individuals and their career development, on institutions and on the wider economy remains of particular concern.”
“The lack of consultation before the announcement of the changes some six months ago also remains a major concern; consultation merely on the implementation of the changes was far from sufficient.”
From my university website…
http://www3.open.ac.uk/media/fullstory.aspx?id=12962
