‘Scotland’s education system being allowed to crumble’ – NUS Scotland President
NUS Scotland is deeply concerned about the growing crisis in education across Scotland, highlighted by the recent announcement that the University of Edinburgh is planning to make £140m of cuts due to financial difficulty.
The University Vice Chancellor’s announced plans to explore ‘radical action’ to reduce costs including potential staff cuts, restructuring, and possible course closures, are part of a wider trend threatening the future of education in Scotland.
Commenting, President of NUS Scotland Sai Shraddha S. Viswanathan said: “This isn’t unique to the University of Edinburgh. Our education system in Scotland is crumbling, and it’s being allowed to happen. It’s becoming all too common to hear from university or college management that course closures are necessary and staff redundancy schemes unavoidable.
“Year after year of higher and further education cuts in public funding is taking its toll, including the real terms cuts just passed in the recent Scottish budget. We need to see recognition that education is a public good that enriches our society, and public investment to match.
“The long term damage that these kind of cuts will have cannot be understated – students, staff, and Scotland will all suffer as a result. NUS Scotland stands in solidarity with all students and staff across Scotland facing an uncertain future, and calls on the Scottish Government to intervene to halt damaging cuts in Edinburgh and elsewhere.
“Edinburgh University is one of Scotland’s richest institutions, and we join the UCU in calling for the University to use its significant wealth to protect jobs and courses, and echo the Edinburgh University Students Association’s call for management to prioritise students.
“However, not even our richest universities can fix this crisis alone. The Scottish Government must act to reverse the trend of falling education funding and fix our broken education system so that students and Scotland can thrive.”
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