Friday, March 29, 2024
1Holyrood protest over slashed funding for university jobs

Holyrood protest over slashed funding for university jobs

By Rory Reynolds

STUDENTS and staff protested outside the Scottish Parliament yesterday over cuts that could see hundreds of university staff lose their jobs.

The group protested outside Holyrood over cuts in teacher training that will see Edinburgh University alone lose up to 40 staff.

The Scottish government’s cuts in education training will see fewer qualified primary and secondary teachers graduating over the next few years.

Edinburgh has already slashed the number of places on its primary school teacher training programme from 280 to just 60.

And the secondary school training programme is to lose two courses from its curriculum.

Thomas Graham, EUSA president, said: “These cuts are a huge blow to teacher training and education in Edinburgh and Scotland.

“It’s about time the government kept its commitment and cut class sizes, not teacher numbers.

“This is yet another failed commitment from the failed manifesto of a failed government.”

Strathclyde and Stirling universities have also suffered cuts due to changes in research funding announced in December 2008.

In December experts warned against “short-sighted” university cuts, which saw funding for architecture and town planning courses slashed by a quarter.

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