Journalism courses at City College under threat

Tomorrow

Support our colleagues and members at City College - Journalism courses under threat

UCU members at City College Brighton and Hove will be striking Tuesday in opposition to the far-reaching cuts proposed by the current management.

There will be picket lines at all College buildings and entrances from 5.30am and throughout the morning, followed by speeches in Jubilee Square.

Staff are furious that the management have failed to listen to concerns about impacts of the cuts on the most vulnerable students. Instead, the Principal and the Chair of the Board of governors have purposely attempted to mislead staff, the public and local politicians with misinformation and propaganda.

The truth is that even with the recently agreed ‘concessions’, the management are still planning devastating cuts to provision for the people of Brighton and Hove:

• 220 staff at the College have been told ‘the proposed new structure does not have a role which is an obvious match for you’ 
• Support for the most vulnerable students is to be cut by two-thirds. This means that learners with mental health issues, disabilities, extra study support needs, safeguarding concerns, cared-for learners, right across all departments and courses will be at a much higher risk of dropping out or failing their course. The safeguarding risks that this poses will have a negative impact on future students and Ofsted grades. 
• The number of courses for adults with learning disabilities (ALDD) are planned to be greatly reduced, with fees will be introduced. 
• Increases in the teaching load for Team Leaders will result in students and staff suffering due to lack of support. We anticipate more long-term sickness and higher staff turnover – not least for Team Leaders themselves, who will have an impossible workload 
• Courses being delivered in far fewer guided learning hours will further add to a lack of support for more needy learners as staff will have to teach more courses to reach their teaching hours target, and will have a far higher workload in terms of marking, admin, recruitment and other non-teaching tasks. 

Please do what you can to support the strike on Tuesday. Head down to pickets send messages of support. Facebook group is here https://www.facebook.com/savecitycollegebrighton