PLANS for a radical restructuring of college education across Glasgow have come under fire from lecturers' leaders.
According to senior union officials, the proposals would create a two-tier further education sector.
The attack comes in a submission from the Glasgow committee of the Educational Institute of Scotland (EIS), which incorporates the Further Education Lecturers' Association (FELA).
The EIS-FELA committee is responding to a new strategy for the future of further education in Glasgow until 2020 drawn up by the Glasgow Colleges Strategic Partnership (GCSP), which comprises senior management teams from the city's three colleges.
Under the proposals, millions of pounds worth of course provision will be moved out of Glasgow Kelvin College and Glasgow Clyde College to the City of Glasgow College.
Some 64 teaching staff will be relocated as part of the shift in courses, with redundancies expected in management and administrative staff. The EIS-FELA document states: "The proposals appear to be driven by the funding requirements of the building project at City of Glasgow College rather than educational considerations.
"The overall effect of implementing them would be to expand provision in the city centre and reduce it on the periphery.
"Naturally, this raises serious concerns that community provision and educational opportunities for those who need them most would be diminished."
The union said the proposals "strongly imply" the evolution of a two-tier system, with higher education being concentrated in the city centre and further education on the periphery.
It added: "This would ... make access to higher education more difficult for those residing on the periphery whilst also reducing further education opportunities for those in residential areas close to the city centre."
The document goes on to raise concerns over whether there is sufficient space in the building planned for City of Glasgow College.
EIS-FELA concludes by saying it could not agree to staff being relocated to City of Glasgow College because of concerns over a downgrading of terms and conditions.
As The Herald revealed in October, the proposals will see Glasgow Kelvin College sustain a funding reduction of £2.4 million over the next six years, with Glasgow Clyde College having a cut of £1.7m.
As a result of the transfer of activity, City of Glasgow College would get an additional £4.9m, but would also be expected to deliver a substantial level of additional activity without extra cash.
The moves follow a national programme to rationalise the college sector which was initiated by former Education Secretary Michael Russell, with mergers and a restructuring along regional lines.
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