We are working on a brand new version of the game! If you want to stay informed, read our blog and register for our mailing list.
Bill: Lifting the Standard: Universal Higher Education
Details
Submitted by[?]: Beluzian Labor Party
Status[?]: defeated
Votes: This is an ordinary bill. It requires more yes votes than no votes. This bill will not pass any sooner than the deadline.
Voting deadline: August 2082
Description[?]:
| Labor proposes that access to higher education be based on merit, not on socio-economic advantage. To this end, we propose that higher education tuition fees be paid for entirely by the Government. Citizens who graduate from a Beluzian institution of higher education will be empowered to make a greater contribution to society as a whole - this bill may therefore be seen as an investment in Beluzia's future, which will pay dividends in the years to come. |
Proposals
Article 1
Proposal[?] to change Higher education tuition policy.
Old value:: The government subsidizes higher education tuition to a certain amount, the rest is covered by the individual students. This includes scholarship programs.
Current: The government fully subsidizes tuition.
Proposed: The government fully subsidizes tuition.
Debate
These messages have been posted to debate on this bill:
| Date | 04:27:59, July 15, 2005 CET | From | Beluzian Labor Party | To | Debating the Lifting the Standard: Universal Higher Education |
| Message | The Universal Higher Education bill is the first part of the Beluzian Labor Party's election campaign, Lifting the Standard. We believe in lifting Beluzia's standards in every field. Labor stands for a higher standard of living, a higher standard of education, a higher standard of healthcare, and a higher standard of economic prosperity. Universal higher education is not only of benefit to those who receive an education paid for by the state. Its benefits go far beyond that. A higher education graduate will go on to earn a higher wage, and will therefore pay more taxes, and inject more money into the Beluzian economy throughout their life. More higher education graduates means a smarter population, and a smarter population means a smarter economy, one focussed on knowledge-based industries. This will make Beluzia's economy more dynamic, and more internationally competitive. The state already subsidises some part of higher education tuition, but Labor believes this doesn't go far enough. Labor isn't content to sit by and do nothing when thing can be improved. We strongly encourage other Beluzian parties to follow Labor's lead, support the bill, and join us in Lifting the Standard. |
| Date | 18:27:38, July 15, 2005 CET | From | Social-Liberal Party | To | Debating the Lifting the Standard: Universal Higher Education |
| Message | We do not believe the current system is ineffective. In stead of spending money on ideological-driven proposals such as this one we should focus on idea-driven improvements of the education system of this great nation. If elected, the SLP will launch a series of comprehensive programmes to improve (acces to) our education system. |
| Date | 14:51:30, July 16, 2005 CET | From | Partisans And Artisans League | To | Debating the Lifting the Standard: Universal Higher Education |
| Message | We think the present system is fine. But there is a majority of left-wing parties so who cares what we think - yay! |
| Date | 19:52:03, July 16, 2005 CET | From | Beluzian Labor Party | To | Debating the Lifting the Standard: Universal Higher Education |
| Message | The present system is inadequate because a barrier remains which prevents many Beluzians from access to higher education. Whether one goes to university or not should have nothing to do with whether one's parents can afford one's tuition. Labor stands for equality of opportunity. If the SLP was serious about higher education, it would support Labor in Lifting the Standard. |
| Date | 20:05:46, July 16, 2005 CET | From | Partisans And Artisans League | To | Debating the Lifting the Standard: Universal Higher Education |
| Message | I dunno about this because the way I see it,the phrase "the government subsidizes higher education tuition to a certain amount" could mean that the government supports the poor (the people that come under the heading those who have "barrier remains which prevents many Beluzians from access to higher education") completely and not 'rich' people. So the phrasing is ambiguous. I think if you can't afford to go to university it should be paid for you (as long as your bright). But I don't see the need to make it universal. |
| Date | 20:31:37, July 16, 2005 CET | From | Neo-Marxist revolutionary Party | To | Debating the Lifting the Standard: Universal Higher Education |
| Message | The current system takes into account the fact that we don't know the state of our economy. Moreover as the PAL said the current phrasing is ambiguous so, make an amendment to the current legislature to make it less so. As stands it could mean that the government pays 99% of university tuition for one student and 2% for another. |
| Date | 23:22:05, July 16, 2005 CET | From | Partisans And Artisans League | To | Debating the Lifting the Standard: Universal Higher Education |
| Message | I think if we make a bill saying that tuition of very poor children is well covered and poor children somewhat, etc etc that the present system works fine. |
| Date | 15:32:44, July 17, 2005 CET | From | Beluzian Labor Party | To | Debating the Lifting the Standard: Universal Higher Education |
| Message | Any ambiguity in the present system can surely be easily resolved by passing this bill. That not being a serious argument in favour of the bill, let me address the advantages the system Labor proposes has over the system in place at the moment. Even if we decide that the present system provides for a total subsidy for the most economically disadvantaged students, and only a modest one for those from more economically advantaged backgrounds, this surely isn't a good system. The cost of higher education is considerable. If the Government subsidises the whole or very near the whole of an economically deprived student's tuition, but not the same amount for a student from a wealthier background, then the Government creates a disincentive for students or parents of potential students to improve their economic status - in other words, we would be creating a disincentive to earning higher wages. Let us also consider who should bear the onus of a student's education. A higher education student is almost always an adult. Is it equitable that their parents should be forced to bear the cost of their continued education as an adult? Are we not placing an unfair burden on parents who have already supported their child throughout their childhood and adolescence, through their primary and secondary schooling? Yet, if parents do not pay the cost of tuition (or in the case of a partiall subsidised system, the remainder between the subsidy and the total tuition cost), who is to pay it? The student is unlikely to have considerable financial resources of their own. We must consider that students who have their entire tuition paid for them by the state become empowered to earn higher wages, and therefore pay higher taxes and contribute more to the Beluzian economy. Such students are hardly "freeloading" off the Government. These students will go on to repay the taxpayer many times over through their productive lives through the greater contribution they are able to make to the Beluzian economy. Labor believes that a progressive subsidy system provides a financial disincentive to families with children considering higher education. Labor believes that a person's opportunities in life should not be limited by the ability of their family to finance their higher education, and Labor believes that it places an unreasonable additional financial pressure on families to ask them to fund (whether in whole or part) the continued higher education of their adult child. Finally, Labor believes that the greater contribution higher education graduates can make to the Beluzian economy makes state-funded higher education tuition not a burden upon the taxpayer, but an investment in the future of this great nation of ours. In short, Labor believes in Lifting the Standard. |
| Date | 17:31:46, July 17, 2005 CET | From | Partisans And Artisans League | To | Debating the Lifting the Standard: Universal Higher Education |
| Message | If the scaling of funding for your childs education was tight (by that I mean there were many steps of percentage payment) there would not be a "disincentive to earning higher wages". You also have to consider that this benefits the taxpayer becasue they do not need to pay as much in tax, so it would not be "burden upon the taxpayer". |
| Date | 17:32:51, July 17, 2005 CET | From | Partisans And Artisans League | To | Debating the Lifting the Standard: Universal Higher Education |
| Message | * "would not" should be "is not" sorry I can't even right a few sentences without forgetting that I'm supposed to be writing in the present tense. |
| Date | 18:12:45, July 17, 2005 CET | From | Beluzian Labor Party | To | Debating the Lifting the Standard: Universal Higher Education |
| Message | The present system only benefits the taxpayer in the short term. Labor's proposal is an investment in the future of Beluzia's economy. Nevertheless, since it seems obvious that the bill will fail as a result of the present government's total lack of commitment to higher education in Beluzia, and as a result of the present government's total disregard for the significant socio-economic disadvantage which makes higher education less accessible for so many of Beluzia's students and potential students, I have decided to proceed this bill to vote so that the record will reflect the shabby commitment Beluzia's other political parties have to higher education in this country. The record will reflect that only Labor is committed to Lifting the Standard! |
| Date | 01:30:53, July 19, 2005 CET | From | Social-Liberal Party | To | Debating the Lifting the Standard: Universal Higher Education |
| Message | Labor and the Catholic Workers Movement, apparently. I have a feeling that this bill will not be supported by the Beluzian people. |
| Date | 04:05:45, July 19, 2005 CET | From | Free Beluzians | To | Debating the Lifting the Standard: Universal Higher Education |
| Message | The Free Beluzian Party does not support this bill. While we do comment the BLP for wishing for higher standards of education within Beluzia, our opposition rests on two foundations: 1, that the State cannot afford to send everyone to college; and 2, that sending everyone to college does not actually lift the quality of education. |
subscribe to this discussion - unsubscribe
Voting
| Vote | Seats | ||||
| yes | Total Seats: 0 | ||||
| no |
Total Seats: 236 | ||||
| abstain | Total Seats: 55 |
| Random fact: It is not allowed to call more than 5 elections in 5 game years in a nation. The default sanction for a player persisting in the early election tactic will be a seat reset. |
| Random quote: "Freedom is not America's gift to the world. It is God's gift to humanity. " - George W. Bush |