‘I fear I may not finish my course on time because of this’
A STUDENT fears he will not complete his course on time due to the ongoing strike involving lecturers at his college.
Grant Mackay,34, who is studying for his HNC in Working with Communities at Glasgow Kelvin College, has raised concerns that he might not finish his course on time to take up his place at the University of the West of Scotland in September if no agreement is met.
He said: “I’ve already put in a formal complaint to my college regarding the time left.
“By my calculations, there’s only seven weeks left after the strike today.
“We only have seven weeks left and that takes us over the time needed to teach the unit and to do the assessment.”
Grant claims that the college is currently exploring the option of extending the term by an additional four weeks to cover the time lost to strikes which have been called by the EIS union, which represents the lecturers over a dispute surrounding their job description.
He added: “I’ve got an official stamped document for my council tax exemption which states this course ends on June 18. My funding ends on June 18 so I’ve asked the college: are they going to pay my student loan and my extra bursary for that month that potentially I have to stay on?
“I’ve raised concerns to the college that part of my offer to university is that I complete all of my modules and units.
“I would like a guarantee that regardless of what happens that we pass our course or HNC so that we can get to university.”
The union claims they are being replaced with less qualified tutors who are not part of the nationally agreed pay scale and terms and conditions as set out by Colleges Scotland, the governing body for further education. EIS claim the move would have negative consequences for students and would create a two-tier system of education, as not all students would have the opportunity to be taught by a professionally trained lecturer.
A spokeswoman for Glasgow Kelvin College confirmed that they share students’ concerns about the impact of the dispute and that measures are being put in place to support them. She said: “Glasgow Kelvin College echoes the concerns of its students and is disappointed that the EIS/FELA industrial action remains unresolved despite a consensus being reached between the trade union and the national Employers Association on the key issues of this dispute.
“Colleges are working to do all they can so that students are not disadvantaged by the impact of the pandemic or by the current strike days and proposed industrial action.”
“The College fully appreciates that all students have their individual challenges and we urge them to engage with their lecturing and support staff to access educational, financial and wellbeing support. Students are reminded that there is a wide range of support services available at Glasgow Kelvin College to help them at this very difficult time.”