Education cuts will 'leave behind a generation of learners' warns UCU

UCU today welcomed comments from the business secretary, Vince Cable, about the importance of adult learning but warned that planned cuts to further and higher education would leave behind a 'generation of learners'.
 
In a speech to the Cass Business School, Vince Cable said that his mother had been rescued from a nervous breakdown through taking adult education courses and the union said that unless funding cuts were reversed others would be denied the same chance.
 
Ministers are looking to slash £200 million from adult learning budgets with up to 7,000 jobs at risk as a result. University funding will be cut by £1.2 billion over the next three years with over 100,000 qualified applicants set to miss out on a place this year.
 
The union pointed to the fact that while other competitor nations, such as France, Germany and the US, are investing money in education as part of their economic recovery programmes, the UK was doing the opposite.
 
UCU general secretary, Sally Hunt, said: 'We welcome Vince Cable's comments on the importance of adult learning. Adult education can make a huge difference to people's lives as he illustrated with the case of his mother. However, this does not change the fact that thousands of staff are facing the sack and that thousands of students will miss out on a college and university place.
 
'This is the last thing this country needs if we want to remain a major player in the global knowledge economy. Cutting jobs in further and higher education will come back and haunt this government and leave behind a generation of learners.'