University principals accused of 'panicking' over funding

UNIVERSITY principals who condemned funding cuts have been accused of "over-panicking" by a senior Scottish university leader in a move which could set Scottish and English universities at odds.

Bernard King, the principal of Abertay University and the newly elected convener of umbrella group Universities Scotland, risked stoking further conflict by criticising England's two-year foundation degrees.

He said: "Some university groups have made a lot of noise. There has been a lot of over-panicking and it might come back to bite them. It was probably a bad decision because it allows the (UK] government to accuse them of crying wolf. I don't want to be in that position in Scotland."

Last week, English university leaders accused Westminster of putting higher education into "meltdown" with 5 per cent cuts to budgets. Higher education spending in Scotland has increased by 2 per cent, but fears surround potential cuts in the next budget.

English principals warned they may have to cut thousands of jobs, axe departments and close entire campuses. But Prof King, one of the longest serving university leaders in the UK, questioned their reaction. He said: "It (the budget cut] is not going to cripple the sector."

He said the cuts of about 449 million out of a budget of 7 billion for English universities would not result in the "meltdown" some had claimed. He was also critical of the foundation degree, introduced south of the Border, which takes only two years to complete.

He added: "To call two years of higher education a degree when the rest of the world is thinking in terms of class contact over four years, well, it is actually a different education experience."

Controversially, he also backed introduction of a tax for graduates, the revenue from which would be ring-fenced for universities. He said: "It would take some time for that to have an impact if you introduce it for graduates from now."

But he argued most graduates benefited from having a degree and high earners should contribute.

He warned Scotland had not thought through the consequences of what he called the "massification" of higher education – the aspiration for 50 per cent of the population to go to university; most notably its cost. He said: "It is very expensive and it will cost more than we are spending at the moment."

His comments sparked an angry reaction from student leaders in Scotland.

NUS Scotland president Liam Burns said: "The focus of any debate must be how we better support those from poorer backgrounds who traditionally would never arrive on our campuses.

"Otherwise, calls for any sort of graduate contribution are morally bankrupt and will be branded hypocritical by Scotland's students."

Des McNulty, Labour's education spokesman, said it was unlikely Scotland would escape funding cuts and called for a debate on future funding.

He said: "I don't agree with everything Bernard King is saying, but at least he is wanting to get the debate started. It is important that we have the debate now on the way forward in Scotland."