8. Plaid Cymru Debate: The Higher Education Sector

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 6:14 pm on 26 June 2019.

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Photo of Bethan Sayed Bethan Sayed Plaid Cymru 6:14, 26 June 2019

Yes, and that's why we are raising this debate today, and I do not make any apologies for doing so, and want to assure that everything we're saying has been brought to us by people in the sector who want us to raise these concerns and want us to do that in this particular Chamber.

I'm not sure how much time I have, but I wanted to thank Suzy Davies for her intervention in relation to being constructive, and recognising the point in relation to how important research is and the fact that there is a level of complacency in the higher education sector. We need to be accountable. I know we differ, to an extent, there. Where we would differ again, I guess, is where we've seen the Conservatives support more marketisation in the higher education sector, and I think that's where many of these problems do lie, so I truly hope you raise that with your colleagues on a UK level as well.

Helen Mary Jones spoke passionately about her experiences, and I think if you've worked in the sector, you will know first hand how some of these issues have affected people on the ground. Ultimately, they are educators, and people should feel that, whatever they want to study, they're able to do so, regardless of people being forced to think about employment before they're ready to do that. They want to go to university to have the experience of going to university.

I don't really want to get into the governance issues at Swansea here today, I know that I've raised them on many occasions, and there are differing opinions about what is happening there. All I know is that we need to ensure that this process is done properly. I'm hearing that it's flawed, and that's evidence that I've received. I don't want it to be flawed, but that's something I can't ignore when people raise that with me. So, I truly hope that HEFCW are abreast of these particular issues.

And Lampeter—you mentioned Lampeter, well, I spent every summer of my youth there when I was on the National Youth Orchestra of Wales and know how important Lampeter is to the ecosystem of the universities. It's gone from 1,500 to 350 students, and I think that's tragic for such an excellent university.

Rhianon Passmore, you always do a great job in defending the Labour Government, I must hand it to you, and the radical trajectory that you talk about. But, whether you like it or not, I'm in politics because of Labour, because of the introduction of tuition fees by the Labour Government. So, I do remember the legacy that is not so radical as well, I'm sorry.