From DAVID GRAY
We hear much of the government’s concern about the lack of qualified
scientists and engineers. This concern appears to manifest itself in a bizarre
fashion. As well as removing the rights of postgraduate students to housing
benefit and making them ineligible for both student and access loans, we
now find that the Department of Education and Science has refused permission
for the Medical Research Council and the Science and Engineering Research
Council to increase the ‘miserable’ (SERC Review Panel) levels of postgraduate
stipend on the customary date of 1 October.
The stipend may be increased on 1 April by the current inflation rate
of 10.6 per cent. This delay will cost each postgraduate between 120 Pounds
and 250 Pounds, representing a 5.3 per cent decrease in the value of the
stipend. While this figure is bad enough, the removal of the benefit rights
will mean a much more substantial decrease.
In view of the very real hardships faced by undergraduates and postgraduates
alike, and the relatively low value placed on qualified scientists and engineers
in this country, is it any wonder that the number of students entering science
and engineering has declined steadily?
David Gray London
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