02 February 2010
cuts, furloughs, reapplications, closures: come in academia, your time is up...
The universities were not, in the main, immediately hit by the recession: 'protected' by a sluggishness that permeates the system, from pie-chart pokers to VCs enjoying long lunches with business leaders, there were, nevertheless, hints from abroad that the UK was not to be spared the iron rod of irrationality when it came to saving money, even if it were to amount to the destruction of any residual academic reputation the UK might have in the name of saving of enough money to be in Iraq for about five minutes, or give to a banker for about twenty seconds.
But, despite the fact that 18-year-olds have no jobs to go to, no apprenticeships to sign up for, no industry to partake in and are afforded as little respect as at any time in history, swingeing, petty cuts will mean that fewer will go to university, to be taught by fewer staff at fewer places. The threats to student places, and to staff jobs are mounting, and fast...FE and Adult Ed have already been completely screwed over...even the hallowed Russell Group will make redundancies if they think they can somehow use them to skew the debate towards increased and differential fees. As for the rest of us: to become colleges of 'excellence' for foundation courses in hairdressing and tourism studies, cos working class students just shouldn't be allowed to read Kant, should they, Mr Cameron? S^*c$%^s, the lot of you.
But, despite the fact that 18-year-olds have no jobs to go to, no apprenticeships to sign up for, no industry to partake in and are afforded as little respect as at any time in history, swingeing, petty cuts will mean that fewer will go to university, to be taught by fewer staff at fewer places. The threats to student places, and to staff jobs are mounting, and fast...FE and Adult Ed have already been completely screwed over...even the hallowed Russell Group will make redundancies if they think they can somehow use them to skew the debate towards increased and differential fees. As for the rest of us: to become colleges of 'excellence' for foundation courses in hairdressing and tourism studies, cos working class students just shouldn't be allowed to read Kant, should they, Mr Cameron? S^*c$%^s, the lot of you.
