EXCLUSIVE

STUDENT vets are being asked to pay up to #2000 more than medics and dentists, causing the Government's controversial plans to introduce higher education tuition fees to come under further attack.

The Dean of Scotland's top vet school claimed yesterday that the proposals would deter many people from applying to study veterinary medicine.

Glasgow University's Veterinary Medical Association is so concerned at the move it has written to Scottish Education Minister Brian Wilson, warning that the Government is taking a risk on the issue of public health.

The anomaly arises because additional Government funding is being provided to meet the cost of producing qualified doctors and dentists to work in the NHS. The Government claims it cannot be expected to subsidise student vets further, as the majority of them will work in the private sector.

Professor Norman Wright, Dean of Glasgow University's faculty of veterinary medicine, said the Government was ignoring the state-trained doctors who end up working in private hospitals and the significant number of dentists in private practice.

He said: ''There are more than 600 vets in Scotland working part-time for the Ministry of Agriculture as local veterinary inspectors.

''Every year we receive 1800 applications for only 72 funded places. It's a bit daft for the Government to tell us that, on the one hand, our students are having to pay extra, but on the other preventing us taking any more students into the system.''

From the start of next term, all students will, for the first time, face being charged up to #1000-a-year in tuition fees as well as losing maintenance grants.

Charges in general have been capped at #3000 for four-year honours degrees. The #3000 limit will apply to five-year medicine and dentistry courses but student vets, who study for the same length of time, are being asked to pay up to #5000.

In addition, vets are expected to undertake an extra 36 weeks of placement work during their course, which prevents them earning money during holidays.

David McGahie, Glasgow University's vets' association president, said the prospect of accumulating debts of up to #20,000 was already altering the socio-economic grouping of the schools' student intake.

In a letter to Mr Wilson, he added: ''Vets have a key responsibility in enforcing Government regulations for the safety of meat and dairy products at farm, abattoir, and processing levels.

''In a country obsessed with food scares, is it really justifiable to continue to refuse to devote sufficient resources to veterinary education or will it take another public health disaster to teach us this lesson?''

Willie Law, Scottish president of the British Veterinary Association, said: ''The vet course is one of the most expensive for students and some are already leaving courses with overdrafts that would make me worried about it.

''It's an absolute norm to be leaving with a huge millstone around your neck..''

A Scottish Office spokesman said: ''It's recognised that medical and dental students are a vital and major source of employees for the NHS in Scotland. However, we are unable to take the same level of responsibility for the supply of other professions such as vets, the majority of whom will work in private practice.''

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