LOCAL MPs Brian Iddon and David Chayter have told Education Secretary David Blunkett that they view his plans to impose tuition fees on students and replace grants with loans "with great unhappiness". Bolton South East's Dr Iddon and Bury North's Mr Chayter - both Higher Education lecturers by profession - spelt out their reservations before voting for the Government's Teaching and Higher Education Bill in the Commons. Former Salford University chemist Dr Iddon said he was very worried about the fees question but added: "At present, I see no other way of injecting the immediate resources that the Higher Education system so desperately needs. I shall support the Bill this evening, but with a heavy heart.

"I summed it up when I told the Secretary of State that my heart told me to vote against the Bill, but my head told me that I have no alternative."

Former Manchester College of Arts and Technology Departmental head Mr Chayter said: "On tuition fees and maintenance grants, there no point in disguising the fact that many students and a considerable number of parents are uneasy about the proposed changes. It would be dishonest to pretend that that is not the case."

Both men expressed concern that while normal teenage student applications look like holding up, mature students seemed very alarmed by the question of fees and were showing signs of shunning university and college.

Dr Iddon won two concessions from Mr Blunkett: a promise by the Council of Mortgage Lenders that graduates paying back University loans would not be discriminated against by mortgage lenders, and that the Government was prepared to raise the age limit for student loans from 50 to 55 to make it easier for older students.

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