The public meeting was chaired by Andrew Cubie with an initial presentation made by David Welsh. Dugald Mackie from the committee was also present. The main points raised by those attending the meeting include the following. A Students Association representative said that they see many cases of poverty among students.
Tuition fees are an issue but poverty is a real problem.
It was felt that bringing back grants was the only reasonable way forward. A spokesman from the Scottish Postgraduate Information Network said that graduates must go onto a further 3 years education to become doctors, teachers etc. Restricting access to postgraduate courses then means that postgraduate students will only come from affluent backgrounds and not necessarily be the best quality. Lowering the quality of graduate means lowering the quality of teachers in the generations to come. The Students Association member said that mature students incur so much debt by going to college and trying to improve themselves and that people are not being encouraged into education.