Why Do Music Stars Like Taylor Swift And Stormzy Care More About Education Than Our Politicians?

Taylor Swift has made a student ‘over the moon’ with a random act of kindness, by paying £23,000 to ensure she could attend university. Vitoria Mario - who moved from Portugal to the UK four years ago - set up an online fundraiser after finding she could not afford to take a maths course at the University of Warwick, as maintenance loans orgrants{ =nofollow}were not available to her. Vitoria says that she wasn’t able to speak English when she moved to the UK in 2016, but, after learning English, she left school with two A*s in maths and an A in physics in her A-levels.

Swift, who often gifts her fans in times of need, saw the fundraiser online and decided to cover the remaining amount of the £40,000 target. ‘Vitoria, I came across your story online and am so inspired by your drive and dedication to turning your dreams into reality,’ Swift wrote, alongside the donation. ‘I want to gift you the rest of your goal amount. Good luck with everything you do! Love, Taylor.’

Swift isn’t the only music star helping the future generation through education. Earlier this week, it was announced Stormzy had donated £500,000 to fund scholarships for students from disadvantaged backgrounds as part of his commitment to pledge £10m to black British causes{ =nofollow}. Stormzy’s donation to the Black Heart Foundation will cover the cost of awarding cash grants to about 50 students, to those - at any age - who need financial assistance to take part in any educational activity. He already awards annual scholarships for two black students to attend the University of Cambridge, paying their not only their tuition, but their living costs too.

While Swift and, in particular, Stormzy, are both going above and beyond their duty to help - it shouldn’t have to be the place of popstars to help disadvantaged children get a good education, when the best education at private schools is paid for, and university, even if funded, isn’t always an option for some, with a survey last year from the National Student Accommodation Survey finding that half of students can't cover their rent with their student loan. The fact that Vitoria couldn’t get financial support, despite living in this country for four years and doing her A Levels here, seems woefully unfair; her fundraiser was to pay for accommodation, a laptop, textbooks and general living costs.

And then there’s our government who fucked up last week’s A Level results so spectacularly, that after protests and outrage, they had to do a U-turn after the algorithm downgraded 39 per cent of the A-level grades predicted by teachers in England. Guttingly, it hit children in disadvantaged areas the hardest, with those at private schools who could afford education doing better.

Now, GCSE and A Level results have been switched to teacher estimates - like they should have been graded in the first place. While the U-turn came into effect before the GCSE results came out yesterday, it was too late for many university-age teenagers, who had already attempted to sort out their offers after the fiasco. Has the education secretary resigned over it? No, even though the i reported that Gavin Williamson did offer his resignation, Boris Johnson wouldn’t accept it.

With the top education in this country being paid for, it depressingly looks like some students are going to have to rely on donations - some from the likes of popstars - for the time being.

READ MORE::a[Taylor Swift Going To War With Scooter Braun Is Important For All Women]{href='https://graziadaily.co.uk/life/in-the-news/taylor-swift-scott-borchetta-scooter-braun-cancelled/' target='_blank' rel='nofollow noopener noreferrer'}

READ MORE: Stormzy Pledges £10 Million To Black British Causes Over The Next Ten Years