UNISON DISGUST OVER £520 MILLION CUTS IN HIGHER EDUCATION, FURTHER EDUCATION AND SKILLS SECTORS

UNISON, the UK's largest public sector union, today (7 May) condemned  £520 million funding cuts* in Higher Education, Further Education and skills sectors, revealed in a letter to the Learning and Skills Council and Higher Education funding Council for England from John Denham, Minister for Skills and Learning.

UNISON Head of Higher Education, Jon Richards said:

"Education is crucial to building a path out of the recession and is an investment in the future of our country. These cuts, originally suggested in the budget, will seriously undermine attempts to re-start the economy.

"Making cuts to administrative staff will have a knock on effect on teachers and students. It is a false economy. The same amount of admin work will still have to be done and teaching staff will be left to do the work when they should be teaching students. UNISON National Officer for Further Education Staff, Chris Fabby, said: "FE colleges already spend proportionally less money on staffing than schools or sixth forms. It is total fantasy to believe there is an army of bureaucrats working in colleges, doing nothing. If these jobs are cut, the quality of education given to students will suffer.

"Teachers can't teach properly without the backup they get from support staff colleagues. Learning assistants and administrators free up lecturers to spend valuable time in the classroom. On Wednesday 13 May, FE unions are meeting with the Further Education minister Sion Simon and we will be making clear our reason for opposing these draconian cuts."

The £520 million funding cuts will be made up with £180 million and  £340 million FE and skills sector.