Minister for Students
What need is there fore one?
Lord Triesman will be the first “minister for students” - with specific responsibility to speak up for higher education students.
There will also be an independent National Student Forum which will advise ministers on student issues.
“Student juries” will be convened in five locations before Christmas to inform its work…
The newly-designated minister will also have to engage with students as consumers - with increasing pressure from fee-paying students to make sure that university courses are value for money. (BBC)
So haven’t students opinions been taken into consideration before? There is little more need for a minister for students than there is for a minister for pwople with red hair. Students have few concerns that differ from the rest of the population bar those directly relating to their courses, tuition fees, or potential careers. All of these are already covered - or at least should be - by the Universites Secretary and the minister for Higher Education [whose current absurdly long title is Minister of State for Lifelong Learning, Further and Higher Education].
Students already have their “own” pressure group - the NUS - despite it constantly being run by a bunch of hypocritical socialist idiots. In fact, the entire Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills should really be focused primarily on students. There is no point or need whatsoever for a dedicated minister to do this. Having one is nothing more than an attempt at spin to try and revitalise flagging Labour Party university societies.
Students don’t want a government minister dedicated to “listening” to them, who will then just ignore them.
Also, there is quite a substabtial amount of irony in appointing a former head of the AUT lecturers’ union as the Minister for Students.
Source: BBC
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“Students already have their “own” pressure group - the NUS - despite it constantly being run by a bunch of hypocritical socialist idiots”
Not socialist, but NuLabour. Big difference. Either way they aren’t much good for anything other then cheap booze.
The NUS aren’t NuLab! They’re far more left-wing than that.