Cuts at Welsh universities are impacting student mental health, NUS Cymru has said.
This comes as students call for an overhaul to ensure financial sustainability at Welsh universities amid concerns about the uncertainty of sweeping cuts.
President of the National Union of Students (NUS) Cymru, Deio Owen, has claimed that students’ mental health has suffered following the proposed and confirmed cuts at Welsh universities.
Mr Owen told the Senedd’s education committee: “That uncertainty does have a knock-on effect – not just on your education and your prospects in your exams… but also your personal life.”
He highlighted how students are paying over £9,000 in tuition fees “for a service you’re not sure you’re going to get” – very different to “going to a shop and buying a tumble dryer or a toaster”.
As part of an inquiry on higher education, Mr Owen provided evidence on June 25th which stated that students support staff in taking crucial industrial action.
“There is also frustration, there are doubts,” he said.
“If you look at it from the outside ‘the staff aren’t teaching and I’m going to miss out’ but, generally speaking, I think there is support and people understand why people are striking.”
In comparison to the rest of the UK, many of the challenges are common across the four nations.
However, concerning participation rates, Mr Owen pointed to statistics which displayed 30 per cent of Welsh young people attend a university anywhere in the UK. This compares with 40 per cent in Northern Ireland, “our closest counterpart economically”, and nearly 50 per cent in Greater London.
According to Nation.Cymru, Mr Owen then highlighted economic and social barriers, stating: “I want to live in a Wales where everybody has the opportunity to follow whichever education pathway they choose.”
Former first minister and previous NUS Cymru president, Vaughan Gething, inquired about calls for an overhaul of the financial model for universities in Wales.
Mr Owen responded: “To put it quite simply, the system is not working as it is formed right now and we need to see that change to make it fairer, more equal and equitable for everyone who wants to access the higher education system here in Wales.”
“We have young people who have less than £50 at the end of the month in their bank account and Wales has the most generous financial package of support for students in the UK.
“But that support isn’t going far enough…. If tuition fees were working, I don’t think our universities would be in such a state that they are now.”
He later went on to urge Wales to consider more outward looking models that offer free or cheaper tuition, like other European countries. But, he did acknowledge there is no “silver bullet”.
Mr Owen also urged Welsh and UK governments to undertake a more fundamental review which factors in elements beyond education, including mental health support and housing.
“Over the years we’ve seen bandages put on wounds. Whereas we haven’t seen that transformational piece that will make an education system that works.
“We haven’t got that forward-looking vision for the future of what higher education will look like, how we’re going to create a system that is fair for everyone.”
He argued the power is in the hands of politicians to create a fair and equal education system, and there was only so far he could go to represent student voices without the power to make decisions.
