Troubled tax for graduates

The Mature Students Union (UK) fully supports Ghassan Karian's call for greater investment in the education infrastructure to improve the quality of our education (Leader, THES, September 6). However, this is where the agreement ends because we want to see a new post-16 education policy that addresses the needs of mature students, particularly in terms of student financial support.

A system of graduate tax for maintenance and tuition fees would be discriminatory to mature students, regardless of their background, for a number of reasons.

First, the majority of mature students have already paid substantial sums to the Treasury throughout their working lives.

Second, many of us have families and/or mortgages as additional burdens unlike our younger counterparts, who are now the minority of students in post 16 education.

This clearly requires a higher level of financial outlay on the part of the student. Third, it would push mature students into part-time study where their debt burden to the state is not as high because they get no maintenance payments yet pay fees. Instead of talking about investment in nursery education at a national level, the agenda should include getting education institutions to provide creche facilities on campus. Instead of talking about students with millionaire parents having their fees paid, the aim should be to abolish means testing for married students.

Mr Karian rightly cites that it is the European Year of Lifelong Learning. We should be positively encouraging mature students to return to study as undergraduates with the reintroduction of an older students' allowance and help make education a lifelong experience without barriers.

DYLAN JEFFREY National president Mature Students Union.