Thread by @historywomble

I have some ideas for how @SamGyimah could help with mental health problems in universities.

Caveat: this is a very complicated subject, and I'm not an expert on mental health, so I can't comment on what would help individual cases. However, based on my experience of working >

at universities, here are some ways to reduce pressure on all students and so, I would hope, improve the general situation.

1. Remove huge course fees and student loans with punitive interest rates >

2. Don't fixate on the salary that a degree will lead to, and instead recognise the manifold benefits and outcomes of education throughout a student's life;
3. Stop expecting universities to turn a profit, and stop claiming the students are 'consumers' and nothing else >

4. Stop using meaningless metrics and rankings (e.g. TEF) which reduce students to statistics;
5. Stop divisive competition between universities (often based on these rankings) which drains resources away from students and welfare towards advertising, estate expansion etc. >

6. Stop over-assessing students, and focus on education rather than grades;
7. Encourage more diverse formats (by which I mean part-time and distance learning, NOT 2-year fast-track degrees), and encourage courses which benefit students, even if they are small and unprofitable >

8. Improve staff working conditions (pay, hours, insecure contracts etc.) so that they will be better able to support students.

I've yet to see @SamGyimah prioritise, or even mention, most of these issues.