The government must provide immediate support to colleges and
universities to ensure they can help lead the recovery when the
coronavirus crisis is over, said the University and College Union
(UCU) today.
In a
letter to secretary of state for education, , the union called for a “clear and coherent plan”
and set out seven proposals it said will ensure universities and
colleges can retain academic capacity now and help build for the
future.
The union said the government needed to secure funding,
protect jobs and guarantee that no institution will go to the
wall. The union said the UK could ill afford to
throw thousands of teachers, researchers and professional support
staff on the dole at a time when education will be a key driver
of recovery.
In order to protect institutions, UCU said the government
had to guarantee funding for colleges and universities at current
levels, and protect the additional funding already earmarked for
research and further education sector jobs and salaries.
To secure jobs and salaries, UCU asked for urgent
confirmation that furlough arrangements will apply to all staff -
including those on insecure contracts - and for the one-year
visa extension for NHS staff to cover visa holders
working in colleges and universities.
Whilst student demand is likely to be lower in the short to
medium term, the union said research showed
that demographic change means there will
be demand for
an additional 50,000 university places by 2030.
UCU said “wasteful and unproductive” competition between,
and within, the university and college sectors had to stop. The
union said colleges and universities needed to work together to
agree sector-wide timings for the resumption of teaching and work
with the union and other stakeholders to deal with issues such as
protecting the integrity of exams and assessment, and ensuring a
fair and robust admissions system.
Looking to the future, the union said that the government
needed a recovery plan for education that prioritised lifelong
learning and reversed years of cuts to adult education.
UCU general secretary, Jo Grady, said: ‘We need a clear and
coherent plan from the government that guarantees funding and
jobs to protect our academic capacity. The
country can ill afford to throw thousands of teachers,
researchers and professional support staff on the dole at a time
when education will be a key driver of recovery.
‘Furlough arrangements should apply to all
staff - including those on insecure contracts - and the
government should extend the one-year visa extension for NHS
staff to cover people working in our colleges and universities.
The government should underwrite funding at current levels and
guarantee no institution will go to the wall.
‘In return for government commitments on funding, we need
colleges and universities to work together in the national
interest and abandon wasteful and unproductive competitive
behaviour.
‘Any recovery plan needs to put lifelong learning at its
heart and reverse the years of cuts we have seen to adult
education. We also need to reassess the reliance on casual staff
in our colleges and universities.’
