Deciding on what to do with your future can be a difficult and daunting process, particularly when it comes to leaving secondary school and choosing whether to climb the ladder towards higher education or dive deep straight into the world of work.

Luckily for me, I felt the choice was easy; school, sixth form, university, work. This had always been my plan, not due to parental pressure but because it seemed logical.  However, if I were sixteen again I very much doubt I would be considering the same path.

The Daily Telegraph reported yesterday that under a new scheme being considered by Government officials, graduates may have to give some of their salary back to universities!

Why? Are tuition fees and loans not enough of a financial burden for grads?

No, apparently they're not! The Government isn't content with plunging students into a frightening state of debt in one way alone, they want to bleed graduates dry by taking a percentage of their salaries 'for life' and giving it back to their university.

Again, why? Unless universities are providing personal chefs and thrones to sit on during lectures for every student, this new initiative is highly unfair and unnecessary.

Whoever dreamt this idea up, I would like to ask what they were thinking? Not only is it impractical with thousands of students coming from overseas and thousands more leaving the UK to work abroad after they've graduated, making it near impossible to arrange individual payments unless a complex and expensive (and no-doubt unreliable) IT infrastructure is put in place to support the process, but there is also absolutely no positive outcome - for students, that is.

In my mind, an initiative like this could only ever achieve one of two things; young people will give up on going to uni altogether leaving the UK full of 16 - 21 year olds not knowing what to do (cue the war against youths), or those that do choose uni, despite the financial burden of loans, will be forced into a lifetime of debt, forever paying for the privilege of being a student.

According to these Government idio...I mean, officials, the new arrangements 'look and feel like grad tax without actually constituting one'. Yes, that's right, it's not tax, it's punishment! Punishment for getting off your back side and working hard, putting in the hours at university and pressuring yourself to get a decent degree in the hope of being able to embark on a good, well-paid career.

The new proposal would mean that those who leave uni with a well-paid job will have to pay more back to their university. Great! What a perfect deterrent to being ambitious and wanting to do the best you can do in your degree!

Given the irritation it used to cause me when people would nonchalantly comment, 'degrees are worthless', I never thought I'd say this but, in my opinion, young people may as well give up on the idea of going to university. Getting a job straight after school might also throw up hurdles - given that no one can seem to decide whether or not we are still in a recession - so my advice is to start a family at an early age (and get given a house), don't get a job (but still get paid) and then at least you won't owe anyone money for trying to do more with your life!

Katie