Scottish minister announces free tuition for EU students

The Telegraph 22 October 2016

John Swinney, Scotland’s education minister, has denied unfairly discriminating against the English after announcing that European Union students who win a place at Scottish universities next year will have their tuition funded by the taxpayer even after Brexit, writes Simon Johnson for The Telegraph.

The education minister told the SNP – Scottish National Party – conference that youngsters from the rest of Europe who enrol for the 2017-18 academic year will have their fees paid for the full four years of their degree even if Brexit happens in the interim.

SNP ministers are currently forced by European anti-discrimination laws to offer ‘free’ tuition to EU as well as Scottish students but this requirement will end after Brexit, which is expected to occur in spring 2019. Asked whether it was unfair to provide Estonian students with free tuition but not the English, a spokesman for Swinney said he was maintaining “the current system”. Pressed again whether he was discriminating against the English, he said: “You have your view, we have ours.”
Full report on The Telegraph site

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