Unions unite to fight against funding cuts for higher education

Published on Monday 21 June 2010 22:17

SCOTLAND'S largest teaching union led protests across the country yesterday against threatened education cuts.

Lecturers from the Educational Institute of Scotland (EIS) yesterday held a protest in Edinburgh's Princes Street about cuts in colleges and universities.

Protesters encouraged members of the public to sign a UK-wide petition against cuts, on the day before the Westminster emergency Budget.

David Belsey, national officer for further and higher education at the EIS, said funding had been frozen in Scotland and deep cuts were expected.

He said: "By signing the petition, people can make sure politicians are aware of the public feeling against cuts to education. Funding for 2010-11 for both further and higher education is effectively at a standstill compared to last year (in Scotland] so next year is the worry.

"There are cuts coming from the Westminster government and although they are being deferred in Scotland by a year, they are going to come."

And he warned that the cuts would hit students' quality of education as well as the institutions' pockets.

The EIS joined education unions across the UK taking action at 90 institutions the day before the Budget.

At Aberdeen University, union members held a rally; at Glasgow University, members of lecturers union the UCU lobbied the institution's ruling court about the cuts and Stirling University staff held a joint union meeting.

Chancellor George Osborne said his Budget would tackle the UK's record deficit with tough austerity measures.

He is expected to announce spending cuts to public sector salaries, as well as tax rises.

Education funding is a devolved issue, but Scotland's overall funding level, set by Westminster, is likely to face cuts.

Yesterday the EIS, the Association of Teachers and Lecturers, the GMB, National Union of Students, the UCU, Unite and Unison launched their campaign to oppose any cuts.

The United for Education campaign said more than 1 billion had been cut from higher education budgets in England for the next three years. Higher education in Scotland has not been cut but equates to a real terms freeze, protesters say.

Lecturers in Glasgow have previously protested against proposed cuts in science and a specialist archaeological unit.

Staff at Edinburgh's Moray House education faculty have protested against cuts to teacher training by the Scottish Government aimed at reducing unemployment in the profession. And colleges across Scotland have been forced to cut courses due to seeing increased student numbers without a rise in funding.

Sally Hunt, UCU general secretary, said she hoped the events would act as an "urgent wake-up call" to the UK government.

She said: "Making savage cuts to education will come back and haunt this country."

A spokesman for the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills said: "Times are very tough and so it is not possible to exclude higher education and further education from the need for public expenditure savings."

Margaret Smith, Liberal Democrat Scottish education spokeswoman, said: "People are really concerned at how they will be affected by the state of the public finances."

A Scottish Government spokeswoman said it had provided universities and colleges with record funding this year. She added: "We will protect spending this year to sustain the fragile economic recovery under way across Scotland.

"Any further cuts to the budget, which has been agreed by the Scottish Parliament, run the risk of plunging our economy back into recession and disrupting frontline public services, and it is crucial the UK government continues to acknowledge that."