You are FOR the rise in tuition fees

You are the Dean of the Medway School of Pharmacy in Kent, England. You strongly support the government's measure to increase tuition fees up to £ 9, 000 a year. You think it will bring money to your University and that it will help you to buy new equipment for your laboratories. You think that people shouldn't always expect everything from the government and that it is unfair that British people should pay to finance higher education. Finally, you know that this fresh money will help your students work in better conditions as they will be using modern and state of the art machines which will make them more competitive on the job market.

You have received a mail from a future student who wishes to meet you to talk about tuition fees and have agreed to see him / her in your office. This is an opportunity to recruit a future student and to explain the benefits your School of Pharmacy will draw from the rise in tuition fees. Even if you are enthusiastic at the idea of convincing a future student you also know that most students in England oppose the rise in tuition fees. So, you have decided to prepare this meeting very seriously and have started to collect as much information as you can on the subject to be ready to answer any questions from your future student.

PREPARATION OF YOUR MEETING WITH ONE POTENTIAL STUDENT

TOOLBOX

You could find these two sites helpful for your reading:

WORDREFERENCE: If you need to check some vocabulary...

English-French dictionary: http://www.wordreference.com/fren/pole

MERRIAM-WEBSTER: If you want to check the pronunciation of some words...http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fees

This site will help you prepare the debate :

http://www.scribd.com/doc/17655885/Useful-Debate-Vocabulary

ACTIVITY 1

Watch http://www.studentfinance.direct.gov.uk/portal/page_pageid=153,4680111&_dad=portal&_schema=PORTAL and gather any relevant information on the myths and facts about tuition fees.

ACTIVITY 2

Read the following document and answer the following question:

Will it be easier for students to pay for their tuition fees from September 2012 ? WHY?

ACTIVITY 3

Watch the following video and answer the following questions:

Do you think that every student in England will be able to pay for their studies from 2012?

Won't it be somehow too expensive for some of them?

FINAL STEP BEFORE THE MEETING

You have now collected information on tuition fees and should have prepared your ideas for the meeting.

Complete these questions to prepare the debate:

1) What is your main argument ?

2) What evidence or examples can you give ?

3) What secondary arguments can you make ? What evidence will you present ?

4) What arguments do you anticipate your opponent will make ?

5) What counter-arguments can you bring up? How can you counter the student's position?

AND NOW THE MEETING

You are in a meeting with a potential student. Answer his/her questions and try to reassure him / her if «(s)he is worried. Develop your ideas and try to convince him / her that this rise in tuition fees is the best solution ever found to put students in the best situation for their studies.