UNISON condemns English education cuts

(07/05/09) UNISON has condemned £520 million funding cuts in English education and training, after they were revealed in a letter to the Learning and Skills Council and Higher Education Funding Council for England.

The letter, from skills and learning minister John Denham, reveal that the planned cuts will affect higher education, further education and the skills sector.

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 restart 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."

And national officer for further education 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.

"Next Wednesday, further education unions are meeting further education minister Sion Simon, and we will be making clear our reason for opposing these draconian cuts."

UNISON in education

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