A former Conservative education secretary wants Rishi Sunak to push ahead with proposals to lower the earning threshold for student loan repayments, despite opposition from other senior figures in the party.
The government is considering recommendations set out in the 2019 Augar review, which said deductions for student loan repayments should be applied once an individual earns £23,000 rather than the current rate of £27,295.
Lord Baker of Dorking, who served as education secretary under Margaret Thatcher, told Sky News he “strongly” supports the proposed reduction.
“Would-be students should realise the obligation they will be taking on,” Lord Baker said.
The Augar review said the current earning threshold meant too many people with student loans were not required to make repayments, creating considerable cost for taxpayers. It recommended the threshold be brought in line with the median earnings for non-graduates.
But Justine Greening, another former Conservative education secretary, told Sky News introducing such a policy would entrench the equality gaps in education “even further”.
Ms Greening, who stood down as an MP in 2019, said such a change could result in students from poorer backgrounds viewing university as unaffordable.
“Levelling up is obviously about removing barriers to higher education rather than putting them up, and the big risk with this potential change that is being reported is that, actually, rather than closing equality gaps in education, it entrenches them even further,” Ms Greening said.
“And it means potentially fewer students from poorer backgrounds feeling like it is affordable to go to university.”
The former MP for Putney added that lowering the student loan repayment threshold would be a “very regressive” move that “directly hits the lowest earning graduates the hardest”.
Urging the…
Source : skynews
