ACADEMIC SALARIES

That this House applauds the success of the university sector; recognises the vital contribution universities make to economic, cultural and intellectual well-being; believes that the expansion of higher education has been generally a good thing for individuals and for society; notes, however, that resources per student have shrunk as a result of this expansion; recognises that over the last 20 years, many in the public sector have seen their salaries rise by a greater amount than those of academics; and, while regretting that students will be unfairly penalised by the current strike action, congratulates the Association of University Teachers and the National Association of Teachers of Further and Higher Education for their belated recognition that the best long-term hope for sustainable funding of higher education is some form of co-payment mechanism.