"UNIVERSITY REFORM BILL" INTRODUCED IN RC The Chief Councillor, Grant Nightingale, has today begun steps to reform University education in the Kingdom. Currently students attending University may study any degree deemed "rigouorus" enough by the National Education Board (NEB) who are tasked with ensuring different subject areas conform to a level of challenge for the exam standard. For example they ensure all Moreland Highers are of equal difficulty regardless of whether you study Ancient or Modern History or even Physics. Once accepted onto a degree course by a University a student must pay their course fees however those from less well off families receive discounts and all students may take out loans from the government to cover the full cost of their education post the age of 18. These loans are paid back once an individual earns a certain amount and comes out of their pay along with their taxes. Under the new reforms proposed by Mr.Nightingale the system would see three key changes.
The first key change put forward is a streamlining of courses on offer as the Chief Councillor explained. "Currently the NEB approve all courses that meet a certain number of teaching hours. This has seen Universities set up not as places of academic excellence but as businesses. For example I can go to an institute called the Keepton Big Top University and study a BA(Hons) Degree in Circus Art, I can go to the University of Food and Drink at Rockhampton and gain a degree in Baking Science. The need for these so called degrees is puzzling. I am not saying don't work in a circus if that's your ambition, I am not saying don't become the best Baker you can be, what I am saying is I don't think three years and nearly EM£30,000 of funding is needed. Now people will say the government recoup's that through the loans being paid off but we still need to pay out in advance on their behalf and some of these subjects put students into jobs where they will never reach the threshold to begin repayment, meaning that money is effectively lost to the government. We need to cut down the number of degrees being given out to ensure they are qualifications that mean the holder is someone who is a member of an academic elite." The Chief Councillor produced statistics showing that around 19% of students are currently on what he has called "unnecessary degrees."
The second key change was to create an annual "Statement of Shortage" for students. "The Statement of Shortage would be a document released six months before students make their applications for University. It would show which professions that benefit from degrees have shortage areas. For example at the moment within the military I know we have a shortage of dental staff. We would therefore add dentistry and related degrees to the Statement of Shortage. Students may see these professions as a way of ensuring upon graduation a brighter future allowing them to identify a career path likely to be successful. Currently we see an absolute deluge of people studying Computing, a vital subject for the nation, but it means competition is fierce, meanwhile a subject like say Robotics which is connected has a shortage. By advertising these shortages in advance some of those Computer students may have switched to Robotics. In addition those subjects on the Statement of Shortage would receive more favourable grants and loan conditions meaning a student is likely to leave University with much less debt."
The third key change is the way the loans will be repaid. "If passed we would contribute towards a service persons student loan repayments. The exact way we would do this would be once you reach the appropriate pay-grade to begin repayments the government would pay for the first year 10% of the loan repayments, then 20% for the 2nd and so on until the loan is repaid. Effectively this will give our servicemen and women a pay raise. I would also seek this to begin for those already serving." When asked where the funding for this would come from Mr.Nightingale explained saying "By cutting the funding for unnecessary degrees we would free up funds to help those identified by this reform additionally if we retain our Legionnaires for longer we can save money on training replacements at such a rapid rate.
The reforms were however immediately opposed by the Royal Artist in Residence, Jocelyn Hopkins. "Mr.Nightingale seems to consider certain subjects unnecessary. The Arts for example would not be as well supported as currently if he gets his way. The subjects such as art, drama and music make a huge contribution to our nation and the economy. They teach transferable skills such as creative and critical thinking. Just because it just tap into some form of military hardware it doesn't mean a subject is lacking in merit. The Chief Councillor has also insulted our Queen, Her Majesty holds a degree in Baking Technology, a subject that Nightingale has called an unnecessary degree. I am sure the Queen valued her education and it taught her a great deal beyond the kitchen and Baking."
We asked the Palace for comments and Royal Press Secretary Malcolm Tucker stated, "Queen Stasya is a proud alumni of Iskor University. She and her husband, His Majesty King David, both place a huge emphasis on the value of good quality education and this has been shown by several programmes they have supported. While the proposal is passing through the Representative Council the King and Queen decline to comment on the proposal of Chief Councillor Nightingale as they believe this would perhaps sway the debate." Currently Nightingale's Traditionalist Party have a 21 seat majority in the Representative Council.
DR.MERRIMAN'S NEWEST BOOK HITS SHELVES The well respected Historian Dr.Marcus Merriman today saw his latest work hit book stores across Mundus. It marks a very different approach to History than his previous works which have sought to create discussions around key historical events such as the formation of East Moreland and his favourite subject the life and times of Paul the Explorer. The 80 year old Professor retired officially from lecturing last year having counted among his vast number of former students King David. Since retiring from day to day lecturing however the Professor has sat and cataloged
the wars of the 21st century. As the book was released one of the first to get a copy was King David who said, "Dr.Merriman had a huge impact on my education. I know he's told me this book is a vast shift from his usual work and is more an attempt at creating a reference tool but its still a useful tool for anyone with an interest in military history."
The Professor however said he see's the book not as a finalised piece of work. "Sadly wars never stop. The book contains details of the Merina conflict which is still ongoing. It is my aim to keep updating the book every two years. We'll sadly see new wars come out and we may learn more about previous ones as new documents come to light. When I'm unable to do the updates anymore its my hope that people at the Royal Merriman University can take over." The Professor founded his own University in 2017 following a falling out with Royal Northfort University. The new University was granted a royal charter immediately and one of its first students to enroll was King David in order to obtain his Masters degree. The Royal Merriman University is today ranked No.3 in the ratings for History in East Moreland behind the Royal Northfort University and Keepton University. It was the forth University to be granted a royal charter.