Consultation into merger for colleges

A public consultation on the proposed merger of Canterbury College and East Kent College is under way.

The two establishments started working together in the summer and are now looking at merging in August ahead of the start of the new academic year in September.

They were brought closer together by the appointment of East Kent College principal Graham Razey as principal of Canterbury.

He said: “We believe that this merger is the right thing to do in order to secure a vibrant further education offering for the people, employers and communities of east Kent.

“We’ve developed a robust plan to bring the colleges together as a group which will deliver real and tangible benefits to all of the communities and students we serve.”

Under the merger proposals, the two colleges will form a new organisation called The East Kent Colleges Group.

It would comprise colleges in Canterbury, Broadstairs, Sheerness, Folkestone and Dover.

The merger is being steered by a transition board made up of governors from the East Kent and Canterbury colleges.

Canterbury College went through a period of upheaval at the tail end of its previous principal’s leadership.

Alison Clarke resigned her position in July with the college penniless and asking the Skills Funding Agency for money to pay staff salaries. A report published by the Further Education Commissioner in February concluded that she had been “controlling and dictatorial” with a management style that left staff “petrified into dysfunction”.

The commissioner noted that since Mr Razey became principal significant improvements had taken place at Canterbury.

Visit www.canterburycollege. ac.uk/mergerconsultation or www.eastkent.ac.uk/merger consultation to read the proposals. The consultation runs until April 17.