Recent weeks have seen two very different stories reported about Dundee’s education institutions.
At Dundee and Angus College, ambitious principal Simon Hewitt has set a bold and pioneering vision for the future.
His campus shake-up would represent one of the biggest changes in the City of Discovery’s education landscape.
This positive vision for the future contrasts with concerning reports from the University of Dundee, where a £30 million deficit has left staff fearing for their jobs.
Closure cannot be an option
In a particularly unguarded moment, one senior manager even told a group of staff that the institution – founded in 1881 – could close in just two years without swingeing spending cuts.
Such a disastrous outcome simply cannot be allowed to happen. The future of Dundee is inextricably bound to the success of its prestigious education sector – not least the jobs and potential for growth linked to life sciences.
The higher education sector across Scotland is facing a perfect storm. It may well become the major political challenge of the next parliament.
Any solutions to this crisis will require similarly bold thinking to the proposals on the table from Dundee and Angus College.
Unlike the country’s colleges, which were regionalised in 2012 to create a streamlined further education sector mapped more closely to regional economies, Scotland’s universities have not seen significant reform for many decades.
While the subjects taught and knowledge shared have both evolved rapidly, the shape of the sector remains strikingly similar to how it has always looked.
Some 13 years ago, The Courier campaigned against plans to merge Abertay and Dundee universities.
The proposals were fiercely resisted. If they were to be contemplated again it is likely the same objections would be raised.
Time may have come for radical changes
But as Grant Ritchie, the former principal of Dundee and Angus College, has said, the time may have come for mergers or more intense collaboration between Scotland’s 19 universities.
All solutions must be on the table. While our universities have proud and distinct heritages, they should be in the business of educating people in the very best way.
That is why there is merit in the argument advanced by education policy expert Professor Lindsay Paterson, who suggests an independent inquiry into Scottish education.
With party politics and election slogans removed, it would allow a root-and-branch, evidenced-based review of the entire system.
In a political climate that brooks no real discussion on tuition fees and other funding models for higher education this may be the only way forward.
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