Are graduates being penalised?
Over the last few days the government has issued a number of statements regarding graduates and the cost of further education in the UK which, to many people, seem very unfair. It looks as though the UK government, unofficially at the moment, is favouring the introduction of a graduate tax which would see graduates paying increased taxes in the future in order to cover the cost of their further education in earlier years. But is this fair?
While there's no doubt that the cost of further education is a problem for the UK government, and has been for some time, the introduction of additional taxes seems very unreasonable. The truth is that if the UK government was to fund further education, and strip out student loans, then effectively this is an investment in the future employment market. So, on this basis why should graduates, who have dedicated years to their further education, penalised forever and a day?
Whether the UK government will be able to push through a potential graduate tax, ahead of a full review of the further education funding system, is open to debate. However, the introduction of further taxes is something which the UK government was looking to avoid but now seems almost inevitable.
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