Tens of thousands of university students could have their final year exams and graduation ceremonies disrupted this summer after lecturers warned they may strike over job losses.
The University and College Union (UCU) which represents lecturers may go for industrial action to oppose at least 14,000 job cuts on campuses across the UK. This could coincide with final exams in June and graduations later on in the year. Sally Hunt, the UCU's general secretary, speaking at the union's annual conference in Manchester, warned that if discussions about redundancies broke down, there could be a national strike.
There have been at least 15 strikes over job losses at universities since March. Higher education institutions are grappling with cuts of £1.2bn between now and 2013. These include £200m that was slashed from their budgets last week. In March, more than three-quarters of universities in England were told they would have their budgets cut for this September – some by nearly 14%, prompting warnings of larger class sizes, further job cuts and a deterioration in the quality of courses.
The UCU's representatives on campuses were reporting new redundancies each day,
Hunt said she wondered how long "this will remain a local action", adding: "Soon our members will want us to take this to a national level and make a national response too."
Academics at Westminster University have said they will not mark essays and exams in protest over plans to cut 50 posts. A university spokesman said it was taking "every reasonable measure to minimise the impact" on students.
Meanwhile, academics today accused the government of forcing them to spy on international students. They claim new visa rules, under which academics must report an overseas student who fails to enrol, miss lectures or drops out of a course, are against academic freedom. The rules were devised so officials could keep track of the whereabouts of international students.
Lecturers called for the union to put up a legal challenge to the points-based immigration scheme. They said they would be prepared to appeal to the European court of human rights if necessary.
Courtesy guardian.co.uk
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