News Release, 2 December 2002
The Mental Health Foundation today warned the Government that student mental health should be a crucial factor when considering top-up fees.
Mental Health Foundation research shows that large numbers of students experience mental health problems, including depression and anxiety, and links increases in student mental health problems to finance and the competing demands of university and employment.
Government policies of widening access to higher education without sufficiently resourcing them have led to increased debt, longer working hours and less support for students through higher staff-student ratios and university staff work overload.
Dr Andrew McCulloch, Chief Executive of the Mental Health Foundation said:
“While debate centres on who will win a possible stand off over top-up fees, we can almost guarantee that the losers will be students. It’s a shame that the generation which remembers student days as the best of their lives are once again exposing today’s students to stress and anxiety in a game of political football.
“The Mental Health Foundation wants to ensure that students have a real opportunity to be consulted in the debate over top-up fees. The consequences for them of a bad decision could be absolutely dire. While the nation needs to finance its education system, it also needs mentally and emotionally healthy young people.”
Studies show that students have poorer mental and physical health than non-students of the same age and sex.
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