THE proposal to make students pay some of their tuition fees is being opposed by members of the medical profession.
In a letter to the Isle of Man Examiner, the Isle of Man Medical Society says: ‘The island must be able to offer a tertiary education package to residents which is competitive in the international market place.’
The letter, from Dr May Shiu Chan, who is the executive chairman of the society, which is a part of the British Medical Association, will pile more pressure on Tynwald in the new year on the controversial issue.
{http://www.iomtoday.co.im/news/letters/tuition-fees-could-hit-provision-to-patients-1-5266167|Read the letter here}
The Council of Ministers earlier this month shied away from introducing the measure because of opposition in Tynwald. Officially, it said it would allow more time for members to consider the issue.
However, it was clear that CoMin feared it would lose the vote.
Students protested against the measure and gathered a petition with around 1,400 signatures and Tynwald members’ mailbags and email inboxes filled with correspondence from people concerned about the issue.
Dr Chan says that the island would find it more difficult to attract medics if tuition fees were introduced.
‘If a tuition fee is imposed, then this will be transferring the responsibility for fees and subsistance costs from the state to individual families,’ the letter says.
‘If the education package offered by the government is less competitive than other jurisdictions’, then we run the risk of failing to attract suitably skilled key and productive professionals or even worse losing some of those who are already here. With the mobility of skills, that poses a significant and real risk to the future provision of excellence in healthcare on the island.’
It adds: ‘This danger is exacerbated in the “mid level” professions where the individuals are not high or low earners; and therefore the affordability of tertiary education for the individual’s family is more finely balanced.’
Under Department of Education plans undergraduates could be asked to pay at least £2,500 a year, from 2014. Island students whose parents earn more than £80,000 a year – which would include many of the higher-paid medics – will be asked to pay more.
The government will pay up to £9,000 of most fees, although there is no cap for medical students.
In England, the maximum that universities charge is £9,000, so the Manx taxpayer would still be offering a much better deal to its students than the Westminster government gives to English students.
However, Scots pay no tuition fees, while the Welsh and Northern Irish pay around £3,500. It could be argued that under the current proposal the education package would still be more attractive that that of most of our nearest neighbours.
Dr Chan’s letter says that because medical degrees last five years, the cost of training in that area would be proportionately much higher. ‘Tynwald should recognise that all degree standard training takes place off-island, mostly in the UK, where Manx students are categorised as foreign students and surcharged accordingly.’
The letter ends: ‘Our long-term national strategy has to acknowledge the incontrovertible reality that this small community needs its young people to gain skills and bring them back for the benefit of our community healthcare.
‘With an ageing population challenge inevitable, the need for quality healthcare from the younger generations cannot be understated.
‘Despite the costs of education ever increasing, the Medical Society is obliged to promote the imperative of continual investment in future heathcare.’
The Department of Education was unavailable for comment.
The decision to look at tuition fees was prompted by the loss of income triggered by the changed VAT agreement with the UK, which sees the Manx taxman lose a third of his income. Tuition fees will now be on the Tynwald agenda on January 15.
When it was dropped from December’s agenda, Chief Minister Allan Bell told iomtoday that some changes might be made to the proposal when it is presented to members in their Tynwald papers early this Year.