My French nose in your British higher education

by Benoit Rajalu

I know I have done it already but it seems there is more to say on the matter.

In France, higher education is quite often mocked, criticised and many have tried to transform it without success.

It is not a flawless system and it certainly could learn from some of your British tricks.

However, in France, you don’t have to pay £10,000 to get a BA.

You don’t have to worry about your debt when you are already worrying about getting a job and beginning your professional life.

You don’t have to look at higher education as if it were a financial investment: it is a step towards a diploma, easy to take and accessible for most of us.

A diploma you don’t buy, one you earn, by the way.

Of course there are exceptions also in France, with some private schools and some fancy universities where students have to pay tuition fees.

But the great majority of them are free.

Students are even given grants – not loans – if they fit the state’s criteria for granting them, enabling many young people from diverse backgrounds to have access to halls, to pay for their books and - for the not-too-hungry, to buy their everyday meals.

Yes, this is quite socialist of us, and I’m not apologising.

Of course, bursaries also exist here.

Features assistant editor Martin Hines tells me you get one for being the first of your family to go to Uni.

Well that’s great; if you have had the bad luck to have knowledge-hungry relatives then you’re screwed.

Of course, different bursaries could be used – one for being good at sports, one for sending the creatively-written tale of your last holidays, one for owning two ducks and half a dog…

But none of these will make up for the total investment that British higher education represents, one that sets apart the haves from the have-nots, one that will either leave you with a major debt or relying on daddy’s money – one that is not even about to be discussed, except apparently to make it even more appalling.