10th April 2013 9:00
By Blue Tutors
With the death of the UK’s first female and longest standing Prime Minister, it would be an injustice not to examine the way in which she transformed education both as Education Minster and later in her role as PM. We cannot ignore the fact that she left a lasting legacy on higher education with some of her policies which were continued by both Tony Blair and David Cameron.
Although her decision to remove free milk from schools dobbed her Thatcher the Milk Snatcher who heartlessly seized milk and a much needed source of calcium from young children, other of her educational policies have become an important part of our current education system. Although it seems that she was largely satisfied with the education she received in Grantham, while studying Chemistry at Oxford she noticed a number of elements that could be improved.
She felt that universities were not economic enough in their monetary policies and had become complacent due to the fact that they were over-protected from the market. In 1981, she decided that international students should pay fees in order to be educated at universities in the UK. Before this, students from around the world were effectively educated for free – an idea that would seem completely insane in our current system. These fees were denounced by the leadership of the British universities who predicted that no international student would ever apply to a British university again – evident nonsense.
Tony Blair and David Cameron both continued with her privatisation policies introducing top-up fees for British students which were also denounced by the leaders of British universities. However, when Thatcher cut support monies for research in the university sector, there was a similar outcry. The Iron Lady’s policy, which became known as the Research Assessment Exercise, so stimulated the British universities that they are now second only to America in every international league table.
In the light of this, perhaps we should take note of the fact that sometimes change is really for the best. The leadership of British universities in particular is known for its inability to adapt and mould to the current time rather wanting to stay in its position unaltered and unmeddled with. But it is this meddling that has brought us to the position we are in today, and surely no one can argue with that.