Second class (From Malvern Gazette)

Second class

11:23am Friday 6th July 2007 in Letters

MY family and I recently moved from Aberdeen to Malvern and have settled in very happily in this beautiful part of the country.

However, I am becoming increasingly bewildered and dismayed at the apparent disparity of provision in Scotland and England.

I note, for example, that students in Scotland do not have to pay tuition fees at universities and that when Scottish citizens become infirm their care is again payed for by the state, unlike in England, when it is often necessary to sell off the family home to afford care home fees.

I now see on the news that, on entering school, Scottish youngsters will be entering classes of 18 maximum, unlike in England, where the number can be 28 and above.

The above points are extremely relevant to my own family's circumstances because I have a teenage daughter considering university education, a four-year-old about to start school and a mother still in Aberdeen who would like to move south to live near us.

Why are English citizens receiving such a poor service compared to their friends across the border, or have I misunderstood the situation?

What do other second class citizens' living in Malvern think?

Mary Chadwick-Rice, Lower Wyche Road, Malvern