IndyGal

But, it’s not to be so maybe I’ll just take them with me to Sri Lanka. Or maybe not. Right well enough of this nonsense. I am making soup and determined not to burn this pot. When I say THIS POT I mean this potful of soup, not this actual pot seeing as I only have one. Shocking I know but when I get back from Sri Lanka, I’m going to do lots of grown up things including buying a whole set of pots, matching ones. And not even the cheapest ones in the shop, I’m going to buy quality - as long as they’re no more than 20 quid! They won’t be will they?

One of my biggest concerns about student loans was always that their introduction and the removal of grants would prevent children from working class backgrounds from furthering their education. I am a strong believer in free education for all, regardless of your family’s income so my concern is not limited to children from lower income backgrounds. But I do believe it is they, primarily, who will miss out on a college or university education if it means getting into debt.

I had an interesting conversation with my niece on Saturday. Christie is 15 and anyone who reads this blog will have heard me talking about her and her brother Daniel who is 10. Anyway Christie was telling me all about her aim to spend a couple of years in the USA followed by her plans to conquer Europe. She is desperate to travel and see the world and I hope she does. I might go with her! (Just kiddin Christie.) Now she’s talked in the past about going to Uni so I asked when she was going to fit that in and she said she’d changed her mind.

Apparently her dad told her all about students today and how they don’t get grants (not that she knew what a grant was - I explained though, just a little bit less than her pocket money) and have to take out loans. He also told her about the endowment fee of £2000 payable on graduation. And it’s true - the average student today graduates with around £15,000 of debt.

Despite my belief that loans were a huge barrier to working class children entering higher education I was shocked to discover that I was right - this was, indeed, Christie’s only reason for giving up on the idea of university. She just couldn’t allow herself to build up that amount of debt. It scared her. And it scared her because she doesn’t have the cushion of wealthy parents. Nor is there a history of high earnings in her background. Her parents both work hard, they’re not exactly on their uppers but neither are they able to fund her through university.

I am not one for dwelling on working class vs middle class and I don’t really like pigeon-holing people. But there’s an important distinction to be made here. If your parents have savings, own property other than their home, are in the habit of earning above average salaries, in other words are middle class, you will be much less afraid of getting into debt. You will be more confident that you, too, can earn above average and therefore pay back your debt. We all hope to do better than our parents did but children from working class backgrounds are less likely to have an expectation of doing so. And if you’re not confident of being able to pay back £15,000 why would you take the risk when you can go out and earn what will seem like a fortune to a 17 year old instead?

Who knows what Christie will ultimately do but you can imagine she was pretty pleased when I explained that the SNP government was radically changing student funding. That in future, there would be grants not loans. That the endowment fee had already been abolished. The smile on her face said it all - and she changed her mind there and then. So now, she’s planning to apply to Uni and hopefully she’ll enjoy the great social and learning experience it can be for many people - if they’re not desperately worried about their finances. How she’ll fit it in around her world travels I’m not sure but the world, as they say, is her oyster!

Apparently I’m developing obsessive compulsive disorder! This is what my niece Christie tells me. And it’s just because I keep playing the last bit of Sister Act over and over and over again. I love the bit at the end where they sing “I will follow him”. I wouldn’t have to play it so often had it not been for the deal I was forced to strike with her - I am only allowed to join in every SECOND time. “Don’t sing, don’t dance, in fact don’t move, just sit in the chair and listen” was the diktat from on high! Cheek! So perhaps if she let me join in I wouldn’t be playing it so often. Can’t wait to get rid of her today and then all I need to worry about is the neighbours

My 15 year old niece is staying with me tonight. So far we’ve watched Sister Act and Bridget Jones - the Edge of Reason. “You can see why she reminds me of you can’t you?” she kept saying - throughout the latter. Hmmmm. Anyway I’m just reading about The Reverend Sheilagh Kesting becoming the first female moderator of the Church of Scotland. Good stuff but I’m looking forward to the day when there are no more “firsts” for females because it’s not that big a deal. Mind you, now that I’m fairly unlikely to make headlines that go “Scotland’s (or The World’s) youngest bla bla bla today …”, I quite like the idea of “Anne McLaughlin, the first female ever to …”. Not particularly bothered what the … is.

Anyway back to churches. As I say I watched Sister Act earlier and I have to say, find me a church like that and I’m there! I stayed for a fortnight in Montego Bay in Jamaica once. I was living with a friend’s family so it was the real thing and I think one of the best days was the day I went to church. It was a small wooden church in the middle of Moyhall (the district we were living in) and I was going fully expecting a big gospel choir and Whoopi Goldberg running it. And you know what? It wasn’t far off it. The singing was wonderful and heartfelt, the service itself informal and inclusive. People were warm, friendly and inviting. The children played with toys at the front, the adults came and went as they pleased (occasionally popping outside for a chat with a friend) and members of the congregation conversed with the preacher as he preached.

It’s not my experience of most churches over here but it worked. It worked because everyone felt welcome, they could stay as long as they felt the need to, if a child was bored nobody tied them down and pinned back their ears AND they let themselves go and just experienced the joy in singing together. Sheilagh Kesting has a challenge on her hands - to bring people back to the church. I find people are looking for something to believe in these days, something to feel they belong to and whilst I’d encourage those people to join the SNP … there’s a real opportunity for the churches too.

Right, niece is calling - we’re going to watch the end of Sister Act again. Well, it is nearly Sunday so I feel it’s my duty - ah, yes, I see why she keeps saying that Bridget Jones thing!