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Birkbeck College students could suffer if government funding cuts go ahead |
College funding could be slashed
MP speaks out as government considers cuts that would lead to dramatic reduction in courses
BIRKBECK College is facing funding cuts that could hit a huge swathe of key courses if government plans to reorganise further education funding go ahead, according to Holborn and St Pancras MP Frank Dobson.
During a parliamentary debate this week on how further education colleges are funded, Mr Dobson praised the work of the Bloomsbury institute – and called for budgets to be safeguarded.
The Higher Education Funding Council for England has been told by the government to scrap funding for students who are working on a second degree, or are doing a qualification which is not at a lower academic level than a qualification they already possess.
The government aims to save £100 million over three years, which is earmarked to be ploughed into funding courses for people without any qualifications. But with 38 per cent of Birkbeck’s students falling into this group – including many women returning to education, or employees looking to upgrade their skills in areas such as computer technology – the college is facing massive funding cuts. Around 2,600 students each year alone could be hit and the college estimates that around 300 people living in Camden would be directly affected by the changes.
With the college due to discover in just six weeks’ time how much cash the government will give them for September’s courses, it is facing a desperate battle to convince Education Minister John Denham not to change the way the college is funded. Birkbeck Master David Latchman is due to give evidence to a parliamentary select committee today (Thursday) to outline the argument against forcing through the changes.
Mr Dobson said: “Birkbeck is one of many distinguished academic institutions in my constituency. Its undergraduates are not the usual 18 to 20-odd-year-olds – they are people who work for a living during the day and study in the evening. Unlike other undergraduates, they also pay tax, because they are working people, so when we talk about looking after taxpayers we are talking about them, among others.”
He went on to praise the commitment of part-time students who also work for a living and said the college provided vital opportunities to improve skills.
Mr Dobson added: “Generally, part-time students at Birkbeck are not doing flower arranging. They are studying serious subjects. They are doing what the government want: upskilling themselves.
“They are setting an example for others, in respect of what the Prime Minister said he wanted when he talked about people needing not one chance, but second, third, fourth and, indeed, lifelong chances. That is what Birkbeck has been providing since 1823, but the government are stopping the funding of those courses.
“These are people who are getting a second helping from the education system – they already have a degree and now they want a second one. The argument goes they should really spend the money on others.
“But we should not have to look at the existing system to find the money – they should just find funding elsewhere. If they were to reduce the amount of money they spend on management consultants they could fund it easily.”
He called on Mr Denham to rethink the plans, which will see Birkbeck losing a minimum of £1.5m a year from its annual budget.
Mr Latchman told the New Journal that the proposals would devastate the way the college is run.
He said: “We would lose funding for a significant number of our students. The government wants 40 per cent of the workforce to get a degree and thinks this may be a way of getting more people qualified, but this ignores that many people have degrees that are now outdated.
“They need to get new qualifications to get back to work.”
Research by the college has found that three years after graduating, 25 per cent of students had been promoted while 35 per cent had found new jobs – a testimony to the college’s ability to improve people’s skills, according to Mr Latchman.
He added: “In terms of resources, the government says it will free up £100m for part-time study.
“But there has been no discussion about this and the fact is it will hit the very colleges that the government will be wanting to provide these part time courses.” |
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