Hyslop reneges on commitment for fairer fees for medics

Fiona Hyslop has reversed her decision to eliminate top-up fees for medicine students, despite previously labelling them as discriminatory and “wrongheaded".

In a response to a letter from EUSA president Adam Ramsay, a government spokesperson said that Fiona Hyslop has “no plans at this stage to amend the level of tuition fees for undergraduate medical courses at Scottish schools.”

Mr Ramsay initially contacted the education secretary in an attempt to get her to stand behind the SNP’s original opposition to the fees which were introduced in 2006 by the then Scottish Executive.

At present medical students from England who began their course after September 2006 are the only students who have to pay fees of £3000 per year of study. This can be paid back when they begin earning over £15000pa.

Responding to the EUSA president’s letter Ms Hyslop said that due to “Westminster imposing the tightest financial settlement since the devolution, the Scottish government has had to make hard choices to identify the areas of priority.

“Despite this, the Scottish Government is investing a higher proportion of its spending in Scotland’s universities than the previous administration – up 3.73 per cent to 3.79 per cent.”

Speaking to The Journal Adam Ramsay said : “Charging people more because they want to be doctors is one of the craziest pieces of legislation to come out of the Scottish parliament. When the SNP abolished road tolls on the Forth road bridge—at a cost of millions—they said they would not collect unfair charges.”

Referring to the education secretary’s original alignment with SNP opposition Adam Ramsay said:“Fiona Hyslop described medical top-up fees as discriminatory when they were introduced three years ago. Yet unlike road charges she refused to abolish them.

“Government has decided that subsidising drivers is more important than ensuring everyone can afford to be a doctor. That is pretty messed up.”

The top-up fees were initially introduced to avoid large numbers of English medical students taking advantage of a cheaper Scottish degree before going on to seek work south of the border – a situation anticipated to leave NHS Scotland understaffed.

Fiona Hyslop adamantly oppsed top-up fees for medical students in that past saying: “Scottish education should be based around the ability to learn, not the ability to pay.”

Lothians Green MSP Robin Harper, also the party’s education spokesperson, voiced his opinion on the matter saying: “Fiona Hyslop campaigned against these fees when they were introduced, but now she’s the Minister she won’t act.”

“It’s wrong to dissuade students from poorer backgrounds from becoming doctors especially given the continued shortage of medical staff across the country, and it’s ludicrous to impose higher fees on a subject where we have such a strong international reputation.”

Speaking on a previous occasion Adam Ramsay also said that the time had come for government to act and live up to its promises.

“When this fee was introduced, Fiona Hyslop described it as 'wrongheaded' and said ’sometimes in politics there comes a time to do the right thing. This is such a moment."