Joshua Boyle, Socialist Students Brighton
On 15 May, 250 students protested against the planned redundancies at the University of Brighton. The protest, partially organised by Socialist Students Brighton, marched from the Level in Brighton to the Moulsecoomb Campus, where an open mic was held. Security barred students from entering university buildings, resulting in heated clashes.
The protest was called in response to the announcement that the University of Brighton would be making over 100 academic and professional services staff redundant. This decision was made to allegedly make up the shortfall from the reduction in value of tuition fees. However, the University has spent an eyewatering £40 million on the ‘Big Build’ as well as £17.9 million to reclaim the lease on the Virgin Active Gym at Falmer Campus. The university says it is in severe debt, so open the books to trade union and student inspection. Where is the money going? Why is the University prioritising shiny vanity projects over investment in staff?
This story is played out time and time again across the University sector, with vice-chancellors running universities into the ground by attempting to run education as if they were a business.
If these cuts were to go ahead, modules from all courses will be cut and the exceptional work of academics will grind to a halt. There is already a sector-wide surplus of unemployed academics due to a lack of funding for teaching and research. Staff who stay at the university will have their workloads increased, and there will be more students per staff, negatively impacting the quality of students’ education. Brighton is already ranked 97th in the UK for its student-staff ratio.
In addition, some departments are losing up to 50% of their staff which will also have an impact on the wider community. It will hit courses such as teacher training and nursing, when the country is at a crisis point with NHS staff and teacher recruitment numbers.
