Wales' universities 'in crisis', unions warn
Wales' universities are in 'crisis' and risk being brought 'to their knees' - the warnings of two unions working in the sector.
There has been a series of job losses and course closures announced in recent months as higher education institutions try to deal with a funding shortfall and mounting debts.
Representatives of Unison and the Universities and College Union (UCU) have been giving evidence to the Senedd's Children, Young People and Education Committee today (Wednesday.)
In its written evidence, Unison - which represents support staff - wrote that, 'Welsh universities are in crisis. Hundreds of job losses are expected with a catastrophic effect on staff, institutions, students, communities and the Welsh economy.
'It's dishonest for universities to talk about enhancing the student experience when this is significantly undermined by the scale of job cuts.
'There's an urgent need for Welsh government to decide what it wants the HE sector to deliver and for this to be properly funded. It must produce a detailed industrial strategy which outlines the skills and number of graduates Wales requires for the future across a range of jobs and ensure universities have the capacity to train these young people.'
Meanwhile, UCU, which speaks for academic staff, wrote that 'UCU Cymru notes that Higher Education has suffered systematic failure and neglect which, combined with the recent hike in operating costs, risks bringing many Welsh institutions to their knees.'
During the committee meeting Gareth Lloyd of UCU said 'The danger is, if we're not careful, this is going to have a really detrimental effect on students who don't want to go there. And that really, really worries me.'
Speaking to ITV Wales after the meeting, Dan Beard of Unison, said that he fears that the job losses won't solve the problem and could make it far worse. He said that, 'My worry is we're going to see a real reduction in capacity and more job losses, perhaps even the collapse of certain universities.'
The political focus on higher education will continue this afternoon in Westminster, when MPs belonging to the Welsh Affairs committee will question the Vice Chancellors and other leaders of all nine universities in Wales.
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