Scottish Government accused of 'rationing education' in damning new colleges report

The Educational Institute of Scotland – Further Education Lecturers’ Association (EIS-FELA) said colleges are facing “unprecedented strain” on their finances and called for a complete overhaul of governance of the sector.

The report reveals deepening financial, structural, and governance issues across Scotland’s college sector.

In its report, Follow the Money, the EIS-FELA union criticises the push towards prioritising the needs of employers and away from an ethos of education for education’s sake.

The report states: “It is very difficult to find any report or political perspective arguing that employers’ needs should be only one aspect of a comprehensive and inclusive education system.”

EIS-FELA Vice President, Dr Thora Hands, criticised “governance issues” and “opaque decision-making structures”, saying these need to be addressed just as urgently as funding needs to be increased.

Dr Hands added: “With cuts to Access courses, additional support for learning, ESOL and community learning disproportionately impacting vulnerable learners and rural areas, it is shocking that some of those in management positions seek to shift towards a market-driven, employer-led model which undermines colleges’ core educational and civic mission.

“Instead, our report shows clearly that the marketisation experiment is failing and that money should not be removed from the sector to pay private companies.”

The report takes national data, freedom of information findings, and comments from lecturers to build a bleak picture of a sector under strain.

It sets out the effect of real-terms budget cuts, increasing marketisation, and widening inequality in provision but goes on to highlight the benefits and strengths of Scotland’s colleges for students, staff and communities.

Last month, the Scottish Funding Council (SFC) and Audit Scotland released their findings regarding the financial woes of the college sector.

Latest figures show a real-terms funding cut of 20 per cent from 2021 to 26 with most colleges now in projected deficits by 2027/28.

Staffing has been cut by seven per cent and with another six per cent decrease predicted, this makes for the biggest decrease in the numbers of staff in the public sector.

Student enrolments are also down by 12 per cent.

The EIS-FELA report finds that government defunding comes at a time when there has also been rising privatisation and outsourcing, including private training partnerships “operating with limited transparency”.

The report says funding should reflect the nature of teaching with the “preferred mode of delivery being lecturer-led and the cost of that delivery should be accurately adopted by the Scottish Government; not frozen, at best, and drastically cut in real-terms, at worst.”

It adds: “Capping student numbers or activities rations education.”

The union calls for a suite of changes to the college funding and governance model, adding: “Governance of the sector must be reformed, including bringing Principals and senior management salaries under public pay controls, and strengthening transparency and accountability.”

EIS-FELA President, Anne-Marie Harley, said that “warm words” are not enough to counter “a reality of deep cuts and a narrowing curriculum which harms students and communities.”

She added: “Scotland needs a publicly funded, community-anchored college sector that values education, not profit.

“Instead, Scottish Government’s continued emphasis on commercial income and financial resilience has accelerated a shift away from education as a public good towards an increasingly fragmented system which allows increasing levels of privatisation.”

A Colleges Scotland spokesperson said: “We welcome EIS-FELA’s agreement with the Colleges Scotland budget submission, which calls for increased investment, and clearly highlights the way colleges have been chronically under-funded over a number of years.

“Sustainable core investment is essential to ensure colleges continue to deliver on Scottish Government priorities, such as eradicating child poverty and sustainably growing our economy, while safeguarding the jobs of college staff.

“We do not, however, recognise much of the characterisation of the college sector in the EIS-FELA report, and will pick up with the trade union directly on the many factual inaccuracies contained within it. As we approach a critical Scottish Government Draft Budget in January, it is in everyone’s interests to have an accurate portrayal of our colleges.”