Government want students to do community service – and pay for it themselves
David Lammy, the Minister for Innovation, Universities and Skills, has this week come out in support of a scheme for compulsory civic service for students. Based on a report by the think tank Demos, university students would be required to complete 100 hours of community service in return for the state subsidy of their education in the form of loans and grants. Mr Lammy stated: “In a consumerist age young people need more opportunities to develop an ethic of service to others.”
Adding insult to injury, not only would students be expected to find extra time their busy lives to perform this mandatory service like the drunk drivers, vandals and petty thieves of this world, they are to pay for the privilege. The estimated £450 million cost of the scheme would be funded by raising the interest paid on student loans.
When questioned, Dr Sonia Sodha (who no doubt enjoyed a student grant) stated: “This will be a fair levy on those benefiting from state subsidised education”. Gordon Brown has recently put his weight behind similar initiatives suggesting he would like to see all young people complete 50 hours of community service before their 19th birthday, and with the Conservatives proposing similar schemes for sixteen year-olds this initiative could well get the go-ahead.
Whilst the hypocrisy of a generation that received free university education, wasted public money on wars of dubious legality and destroyed our country’s economy now expecting the nation’s undergraduates to perform civic service in return for our education is obvious, it is compounded in the case of the Rt. Hon. David Lammy. Not only did he receive state funding for an undergraduate degree at SOAS in London and a Masters at Harvard Law School, the MP for Tottenham has also claimed over £25,000 pounds in second home allowance despite being a London MP. That’s quite a lot more than the £8000 pounds my degree is costing the government, Mr Lammy.
What particularly irks me about this scheme, however, is the fact that the government sees fit to tell me what to do with my free time. I am a busy student in the 3rd year of a 4 year science degree. I have 2 full days of labs a week, another couple of days of lectures and that’s before I even begin to write lab reports, essays or presentations. In my free time I’m racing and training for a marathon and volunteer with the Red Cross, as well as helping to run a youth group for children with learning disabilities and working full time in the holidays. Last week, I did in fact spend about 20 hours helping prepare a stall and awareness campaign for World Aids Day, so no doubt I would be well on my way to my 100 hours and yet the idea of someone legislating to force me to do so just boils my blood.
P.S. I just can’t help thinking that perhaps if Mr Lammy spent less time telling the nation’s students what to do and partook in a little more studying himself he might have avoided his embarrassing performance on Celebrity Mastermind. He scored a grand total of 13 points, and let slip that he thinks Henry VII is the son of Henry VIII and that Marie Antoinette and her husband Pierre were awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics. If anyone’s interested in having a laugh the footage, look below:
Related posts:
I am glad to be one of many visitors on this great website (:, thankyou for posting .
Some really marvelous work on behalf of the owner of this website , dead great written content .
I want to thank you on the share, very useful for us, I’m learning all along and your post has really enlightened me.
Love the grading
still up in the air if i am ready to go natural with my hair yet. Does it demand a lot of maintenance to keep it looking as stunning as my hair does when i rock indian remy lace wigs?
Very Good!
really wonderfull
Hahahah.. Damm.. great one
Hey! I just saw one other message in another blog that looked like this. How have you learnt all these items? That’s one cool post.
Oh my goodness! an amazing article dude. Thanks Nevertheless I am experiencing subject with ur rss . Don’t know why Unable to subscribe to it. Is there anyone getting similar rss problem? Anyone who knows kindly respond. Thnkx
Wonderful post! I’d love more blog posts! Thanks a lot!
One thing I have actually noticed is the fact that there are plenty of misguided beliefs regarding the financial institutions intentions if talking about foreclosure. One misconception in particular is the fact the bank wishes to have your house. The lending company wants your cash, not the home. They want the money they loaned you having interest. Averting the bank will still only draw a foreclosed conclusion. Thanks for your publication.
Awwww, so beautiful! =)))
It’s Tuesday and I was just surfing the web on my new iPad and found your site. I am just at Starbucks, I love my coffee. Skipping work today to end a 4 day weekend Your blog seems to show up great on a mobile device so whatever you have done in your design is working. A really usefull post – A big thank you I hope you dont mind me blogging about this article on my website Did you see the destruction the storms did in NC? The pictures on the web are unbelievable. I will also leave a linkback Thanks
Good post
WOW what a difference!
WOW, super!
Hey. Nice Post
AMazing!
Cool stuff here!
Im impressed. I dont think Ive met anyone who knows as much about this subject as you do. Youre truly well informed and very intelligent. You wrote something that people could understand and made the subject intriguing for everyone. Really, great blog youve got here.
Hey! I just saw one other message in another blog that looked like this. How have you learnt all these items? That’s one cool post.
magnificent points altogether, you simply gained a new reader. What would you recommend in regards to your post that you made a few days ago? Any positive?
Oh my goodness! a tremendous article dude. Thank you However Im experiencing situation with ur rss . Don’t know why Unable to subscribe to it. Is there anybody getting equivalent rss drawback? Anyone who is aware of kindly respond. Thnkx
Fuckin’ Amazing!
Fantastic web site. A lot of useful info here. I’m sending it to some friends ans also sharing in delicious. And obviously, thanks for your sweat!
yeah, cool! Thanks a lot
Hey! That’s a extremely nice post. I’m very sure Ill recommend it to my co-workers.Should you publish extra posts please email them to me.
Awwww, so beautiful! =)))
extremely cute!
Hey! I just saw one other message in another blog that looked like this. How have you learnt all these items? That’s one cool post.
Bless you for the blog post, that’s some fairly useful information.
Great post!
Hey! That’s a really great post. I’m very certain Ill suggest it to my co-workers.If you submit extra posts please e-mail them to me.
Perfect!!!
I have come across that nowadays, more and more people are now being attracted to cameras and the field of picture taking. However, like a photographer, you should first shell out so much of your time deciding the model of dslr camera to buy and also moving from store to store just so you could potentially buy the least expensive camera of the brand you have decided to settle on. But it isn’t going to end just there. You also have to contemplate whether you should obtain a digital video camera extended warranty. Thanks a bunch for the good ideas I received from your weblog.
Good work man
Great!
Nice blog
I started to follow your blog
Nice blog
Good post
Cool stuff here!
WOW-excellent!
One thing: I do not exactly know what do you mean in the second paragraph. Could you please exmplain your opinion? Regards, Rozpoznawanie mowy.
Thanks for your post. Another item is that just being a photographer consists of not only problem in recording award-winning photographs and also hardships in acquiring the best dslr camera suited to your requirements and most especially problems in maintaining the caliber of your camera. That is very correct and clear for those photographers that are into capturing the nature’s fascinating scenes – the mountains, the particular forests, the actual wild or even the seas. Going to these adventurous places undoubtedly requires a digicam that can live up to the wild’s nasty areas.
I am perpetually thought about this, thank you for putting up.
really wonderfull
Yet another issue is that video games can be serious anyway with the key focus on studying rather than enjoyment. Although, there is an entertainment factor to keep children engaged, each one game is frequently designed to develop a specific skill set or course, such as mathematics or technology. Thanks for your publication.
WOW-excellent!