Suicide Among Students Is At Record Level In The UK

Funding cuts are necessary, says Birmingham

Australian Education and Training Minister Simon Birmingham declared it is only fair that universities contribute to budget saving since they have helped to blow out the national debt. After his proposal for budget cuts for higher education, Minister faced opposition that completely disagreed with his proposal. Birmingham said: “The reaction of some in the sector to the efficiency dividend proposal would suggest that they don’t believe the basic laws of business and economics apply to universities.” An analysis conducted by Deloitte shows that average cost of delivery per students from 2010 to 2015 increased by 9.5 percent, while at the same time, funding per student grew by 15 percent. This shows that university funding has increased over the last couple of years, but the costs increased at a slower rate. It is believed that disciplines such as technology, mathematics, engineering and science will suffer the most because of the proposed cuts.

Funding for elite universities in Russia will increase

Aim to get five of Russian universities into the global top 100 in international ranking seems to be genuine after the news broke out that government is stepping up its funding for this cause. Promotion fund of Russian universities in the global arena will see the rise from US$599 million to US$749 million in the period from 2018 to 2020. In the draft that Ministry of Education and Science prepared, competitiveness of Russian universities in the global market is seen as the primary goal of this proposal. Even though it is not included in this programme named 5-100, Moscow State University is the only one included in the rankings of QS and Education and the Academic Ranking of World Universities.

Suicide among students is at record level in the UK

IPPR thinktank conducted a study that shows the scale of the mental health crisis at the UK universities. Reports from recent years show that record number of students have committed a suicide. In 2015, a record number of students with mental health issues dropped out of university and 134 of them killed themselves. “We know that the government needs to do much more to stop people reaching the level of desperation where they take their own lives. Suicide is preventable… without proper resourcing and funding, we will not reduce suicide in England,” said a spokesman for the Royal College of Psychiatrists Mark Salter. IPPR senior research fellow Craig Thorley urged at universities to support their students throughout their struggles with anxiety and depression.

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