Letter: Tuition talk

Former Edinburgh University principal Lord Sutherland of Houndswood calls for mature discussion of the possibility of privatising large chunks of Scotland's universities to "set them free from government interference" (your report, 12 April).

But many of these institutions - not least Edinburgh University - were built up by public subscription and they are not Lord Sutherland's or anyone else's to privatise.

As a graduate member of the General Council, I asked a few years back to see the constitution of Edinburgh University - only to be told by its secretary that none existed. I asked why I had never seen any academic vacancies advertised in the Scottish quality press since Sir Timothy O'Shea was appointed principal and was told they saw no reason to change.

I then asked why they were charging 500 for a conference I had helped organise when much of the labour input had been provided by three unpaid Honorary Fellows - who by that point had lost all rights to parking spaces, office accommodation and were even being charged for university diaries. I drew attention to Youngson's The Making of Classical Edinburgh, showing who paid for Old Quad.

I'm still waiting for "mature discussion" of these points from the pampered groves of academe or the litist Fellows of the RSE. In the interim Sutherland's privatisation proposal will be fiercely resisted.

Neil Robertson

Glamis Terrace

Dundee