EXCLUSIVE: MINISTERS have set out proposals to make Scottish universities tailor courses more closely to the needs of the economy.
MINISTERS have set out proposals to make Scottish universities tailor courses more closely to the needs of the economy, provoking an angry backlash from institutions that claim the bid threatens academic freedom.
Some of the country's foremost university principals are understood to feel "betrayed" by a letter from Education Secretary Fiona Hyslop that appears to pave the way for the Scottish Funding Council to have more of a say over universities' curriculums.
The ministerial intervention is designed to help the country cope with the recession and beyond, but risks intrusion into territory which the "ancient" universities such as Glasgow, Edinburgh, Aberdeen and St Andrews regard as sacrosanct.
The letter, written to chairman of the Scottish Funding Council John McClelland and seen by The Herald, begins by highlighting the current economic challenges facing Scotland.
"I expect the council to work with the sectors to ensure that new and flexible approaches to curriculum and learning delivery are provided and that provision is capable of meeting both the short-term skills needs of the economy and changing demands in the context of a future economic recovery," Ms Hyslop wrote.
Under the heading "Employability and skills interventions", she added: "Our key ambitions will be to better develop entrepreneurial capacity and graduate employability, to work actively with employers to ensure skills learned during courses at college or university can be utilised to best effect in the workplace."
University principals, all of whom received a copy of the letter, have so far not spoken publicly about its implications, but The Herald understands that, in private, there is growing unrest.
Dr Brian Lang, former principal of St Andrews University, denounced the government's proposals at his farewell speech in December. Before an audience of 200 university staff, he said its contents transgressed academic freedom and should be resisted.
Yesterday, a senior figure in higher education told The Herald: "The whole point of a quango like the Scottish Funding Council is to insulate higher education against carrying out changes to provision on the basis of short-term political pressure.
"The government is not supposed to dictate what universities teach; nor is the funding council.
"The whole point of universities is that they are seats of learning and the professionals in those sectors are trusted to teach. The Scottish Government and the Scottish Funding Council should not have anything to do with that - they don't have the right to interfere and they don't have the competence."
Tony Axon, of UCU Scotland, a union that represents lecturers, said: "We would be very concerned if the funding council started dictating provision, particularly based on economic goals. Tailoring courses to suit the needs of the economy is dangerous because it is so a fickle. Six months ago, training people to work in financial services would have seemed like a good idea."
However, Ms Hyslop yesterday defended the government's action and said it would not impinge on academic freedom.
"All bodies which receive public funding will be expected to align themselves with the priorities of the government to make sure they are working together for the common good, which is particularly important at this time," she said. "Taxpayers would not expect us to provide a blank cheque to universities without universities contributing to the national goals of the country.
"We would not expect to have any locus or influence over resources that are not public and we respect the independence and autonomy of institutions, but it is not unreasonable to expect some alignment with government economic strategy."
Mark Batho, Scottish Funding Council chief executive, added: "This will not impinge on academic freedom. Our statutory provision is to secure coherent provision across higher and further education and this is what we are on the planet to do."
A Universities Scotland spokesman said: "We will be discussing a wide range of strategic issues with the Scottish Government and the Scottish Funding Council."
The row comes against a backdrop of increasing tension in higher education over public funding levels after the last Scottish Budget settlement. Universities said it would damage their competitiveness.
