News Report - New Simfield University Laws
At 10am this morning, Mayor Sara Jayapalan announced that she was abolishing university fees for all students in Simfield.
Sources claim that the cause of this sudden action was the story of a family of five orphaned children, four of whom could not afford to go to university after the loss of their father.
Said the Mayor: "This measure may have sadly come too late for those students, but shall help future cases where talent would otherwise be wasted due to a familial lack of funds."
University representatives (who declined to be pictured) have called this measure "ludicrous", stating that they simply do not have the funds to support as much demand as they currently have without fees, not even counting the likely new demand when fees are abolished. "With the fees in place we can take as many students as want to come and can afford it, and those who can't afford it but show promise can get access to scholarships to help overcome financial difficulties, as well as the opportunities offered in the way of part-time employment. With no fees coming in we will have to half the number of students we can take and anti-discrimination legislation will effectively mean that every student will have a fifty-fifty chance of making it in, so half will still lose out. Unless the Mayor is willing to give us substantially larger funding, which she has given no sign of even considering! To be honest, I think this measure is the worst thing to happen to education since computer games!"
What will be especially important is the effect on the students themselves - we interviewed four local teenagers to hear whether they had been given a university place and what they felt of this new system.
Janice Andrews has not been given a place and is very unhappy with the situation:
"Ugh! It's so unfair! My parents and grandparents can afford to send me, why shouldn't they be able to?! I never would have let them enroll me in private school if I didn't think I'd be able to get with hot college guys and girls at the end of it! This sucks!"
Roxanne Raymond goes to the same school and has also been rejected, but accepts the situation:
"Well, I had hoped to go to university and learned the art of cooking and the perfect grilled cheese sandwich, but if this is going to help less fortunate students then I guess it's fair. And they say the best way to learn is by doing, so I'll just have to teach myself from home!"
Twins Karen and Laura Jayapalan, nieces of the Mayor herself, go to public school - Karen has been accepted, but Laura has not, and as such they have mixed feelings:
Karen: "Well naturally I'm happy to have been one of the few to have been accepted this year, but it will be a real shame to be separated like this. But at the same time, it will be a real boost to my career ambitions, following my father and great-grandfather into the culinary business, while Laur doesn't really have a career plan, do you?"
Laura: "Not really, I guess, but I always pictured us growing up together and it's disheartening to know that I can't change it even if I work really hard. I'm not really sure it's the best system, but we go with what we get..."
Whatever other criticisms of this system may be made, it cannot be claimed that five-term Mayor Jayapalan does not believe in her own actions, if she has gone so far as to break up her own family for her beliefs.
We shall keep you up to date with further developments on the threatened strikes by university lecturers and unsatisfied parents...