FE sector in financial crisis

Scotland’s Further Education sector is in crisis. Lecturers, support staff and students have attempted to raise the alarm for so long they might be forgiven for thinking that those with the power to intervene have washed their hands of an essential public service.

On the day the FM announced his resignation, Edinburgh College lecturers and our supporters took our campaign to Bute House. Humza will have a lot on his mind. FE lecturers stand ready to provide retraining if required.

Four Scottish colleges teeter on the edge of bankruptcy. More redundancies and cuts to the curriculum are planned for Edinburgh College. Nationwide, lecturers have not seen a pay rise in almost three years.

Our employers refuse to negotiate a satisfactory settlement. Minister for FE Graham Day loiters on the sidelines, apparently unmoved by appeals to intervene.

Our message to the communities we serve is, therefore, a simple one. Now is the time to contact our political representatives and alert our friends and families.

The FE sector as we know it is in peril. With political will the Scottish government could find the resources to settle a damaging pay dispute and provide the long term funding our staff and students deserve.

Time is running out. Lecturers will continue to take the fight for our sector to Holyrood. We will not allow an essential asset of working class education and training to wither and die.

With solidarity from the communities we are privileged to serve, FE can be saved for generations to come. Let's raise our voices for FE.

Mike Cowley, Edinburgh College FELA Branch Committee