Colleges lose over 150,000 students after SNP cutbacks

THE number of further education college students in Scotland has plummeted to a new low while the SNP prioritises free university tuition.

New figures published yesterday revealed a 4.8 per cent yearon-year drop in 2014-15, with the headcount down by an astonishing 152,000 since the Nationalists came to power.

Those bearing the brunt of the crisis are women and Scots looking for part-time courses to learn vital new skills in the hope of securing jobs as electricians, chefs, plumbers, hairdressers and carers.

The cutbacks in further education have largely slipped under the radar because of the SNP’s headlinegrabbing commitment to free university education.

Last night, Education Secretary Angela Constance boasted that the number of students studying full-time for recognised qualifications at colleges has grown by 22 per cent since 2008-09.

That is because the National- ists have prioritised full-time learning for school leavers, and focused on ‘substantive courses’ rather than short programmes that help working adults quickly learn new skills.

Labour MSP Iain Gray said last night: ‘No matter how they try to dress this up, these figures show that there are now 152,000 fewer students in colleges than there were when the SNP came to power.

‘The budget has cut college funding in real terms yet again. College staff are on the point of industrial action. The SNP’s record on further education is nothing short of a disgrace.’

Conservative MSP Liz Smith added: ‘Thousands of people of all ages and backgrounds are losing out achieving their dreams and this is unaccepta- ble. The Scottish Government has repeatedly slammed the door on those seeking to better themselves and it is no wonder many businesses are increasingly worried about a skills gap.’

The figures published by the Scottish Funding Council show colleges delivered 121,364 fulltime equivalent places last year, up 1.2 per cent from 2013-14.

But total student headcount for 2014-15 was 226,919, down 4.8 per cent from 238,399 in 2013-14, and down 40 per cent from 379,233 in 2007-08. Parttime further education enrolments have slumped from 398,606 in 2007-08 to 201,113, and while 58 per cent of student enrolments were by women in 2005-06, that figure is now just 51 per cent.

In his draft budget for 201617, Finance Secretary John Swinney said there would be no cash increase for colleges, which have suffered a £69million cut over four years.

Educational Institute of Scotland general secretary Larry Flanagan said the Scottish

‘SNP record is a disgrace’ ‘Thousands are missing out’

Government’s decision to prioritise full-time higher education was having a ‘knock-on impact’ on adults wanting to complete part-time courses.

He said: ‘The deep cuts to further education funding over the last few years, coupled with this change in government priorities, have weakened the “lifelong learning” and “opportunity for all” elements that have always been central to Scottish further education.’

But Miss Constance insisted: ‘Figures in December showed that youth employment was at its highest August to October level since 2008. We will continue to invest heavily in further and higher education to ensure Scotland remains a word class place to study.’

The SNP’s free university education policy has become an article of faith for the party.

So engrained is it that Alex Salmond’s pat homily about ‘rocks melting with the sun’ before tuition fees would be countenanced has, embarrassingly, been set in stone as a reminder that dogma counts for much with the Nationalists.

So no chance then of Angela Constance – after over a year in post as education Secretary – waking up to the reality that the policy is far from free.

The scale of the price tag is made obvious by figures that show the number of further education college students has tumbled to a new low, down 152,000 since the Nationalists took power at holyrood.

Women and those looking for part-time courses are bearing the brunt of what Miss Constance glibly calls ‘ambitious changes in our college system... after a period of intense reform’.

It is hard indeed to square her words with what is clearly a burgeoning crisis. The rebranding of damage to the vocational and ‘life-long learning’ remit that has long been a cornerstone of Scottish education is nothing short of breathtaking.

The usual SNP gripe, trotted out when confronted by inconvertible evidence of their own shortcomings, is that ‘Westminster is to blame’. That doesn’t wash with education, where the Nationalists have had full control for years. The sector’s woes, damaging the prospects of a generation of Scots, lie squarely at their door. And so they must shoulder the blame too for the infuriating situation we report today where scores of graduates from Scottish universities are lost to a scheme that places talented new teachers in struggling schools in england.

This is against a backdrop of a crippling teaching-staff shortage here, with key subjects such as maths falling dramatically short of targets.

Scottish Tory leader Ruth Davidson is right to call for action. But what chance of that when Miss Constance claims SNP policy will ‘ensure Scotland remains a world-class place to study’?

The truth is the pursuit of a headlinegrabbing initiative on university education is damaging other sectors massively and – to paraphrase Mr Salmond – the rocks will melt with the sun before the SNP wake up to their folly.