QUEEN’S UNIVERSITY students have protested against proposed rises in third-level fees.
The protesters singled out Lord Browne, whose report called for a lifting of the cap on student fees in England, as the focus of their opposition. Under his review fees for a typical undergraduate course could rise from about £3,000 per year to more than £11,000.
Queen’s students took to the streets following a special meeting at the Students’ Union building where a motion of opposition to future fee hikes was passed.
“The National Union of Students and the Union of Students are involved in intensive lobbying of political parties at Westminster and Stormont,” union president Gareth McGreevy said.
“A majority of Northern Irish parties are with us. At Westminster, we are close to securing enough Lib Dem rebels to seriously imperil this ridiculous, unfair, and unsustainable proposal.
“Politicians need to know that students care; that they can’t simply be kicked around,” he said.
Sir Reg Empey, the Higher Education Minister, has ordered a special review of a report which had previously found that the cap on fees in Northern Ireland should remain largely unchanged.