I AM sure that many people were disappointed by today's report that the SNP have reneged on their promise to abolish student tuition fees. I am even more disappointed to note that none of the political parties has put forward the most obvious solution to the current crisis in education - apprenticeships. Students and other trainees are preparing for work and, as such, ought to be paid.
I am not suggesting that they should be paid huge sums of money, but it should be enough to live on. The ''minimum wage'' might be an appropriate figure. Whatever the sum agreed it should not be means-tested; wages in industry and in the service sector are based on ability rather than parents' income and it should be the same for apprentices.
The current attitude towards students is based on two false assumptions. First of all, money spent on education is an investment; it is not wasted like a lot of other Government spending such as defence or millennium domes. Investment money does not disappear; it grows and finally matures. You get your money back - with interest.
The other fatal assumption is that it is only the students who benefit from their education. This is nonsense. We all benefit from the fact that the population has acquired a range of skills and abilities. I benefit from being able to call upon the doctors, dentists, plumbers, and electricians who are available because the education system provided opportunities for them to learn their ''trades''.
The better educated we are the richer we will become. Let's start investing in the future and treating our young people with some respect. How can we expect them to look up to the older generations if we deny them the opportunities we took for granted?
Malcolm MacDonald,
12 Westerkirk Drive, Glasgow. May 22.
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