Manchester University students’ union appoints two ‘working class’ students to liaise between ‘working and middle class students’
Spokesman said move aimed to 'bridge the gap' between students of different social classes
THE student union at a top UK university has announced it has appointed two ‘working class’ student officers to liaise between working and middle class students.
The University of Manchester Student's Union revealed it had taken the step "to act as a voice for working class students".
A spokesman said: "The new role will hopefully continue to bridge the gap between working and middle class students at the University of Manchester, where the class divide is particularly prevalent.”
The spokesman said pupils from private schools were two-and-a-half times more likely to study at leading universities like Manchester than those from normal state schools.
He added: "The University of Manchester Students' Union is committed to broadening access to disenfranchised and under-represented groups of students.
"We in our democratic structures in our union had representation for all groups the NUS label as marginalised – bar working class students and Care Leavers.
";These officers represent the interests of underrepresented groups and facilitate campaigns and self-organisation.
"Policies such as the scrapping of maintenance grants, the cutting of the Manchester Bursary and systematic inequality highlighted in such cases as the attainment gap and the underrepresentation of working class students enrolling at our university highlight the need for dedicated officers to represent the needs of working class students."
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A recent poll showed that at a Russell Group university only six per cent of new students will be from "the most disadvantaged backgrounds".
At a time when almost 40 per cent of young people progress to higher education by the age of 19 only ten percent identify as being from the "most disadvantaged backgrounds".
Young white men from these particular backgrounds are five times less likely to go to university than their more privileged counterparts.
It's not just Manchester, with SOAS in London and St Hilda's of Oxford also creating similar roles.
And Exeter, Birmingham and Leeds universities are reportedly offering places to working class students at two grades below their normal requirements.
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