SNP education secretary Jenny Gilruth says the crisis at Dundee is not an argument to reintroduce tuition fees as she blamed ‘mismanagement’ by university chiefs.
Over 600 jobs have been put at risk by the university as its attempts to plug a £35 million deficit.
Speaking on Sunday, Ms Gilruth sought to lay the blame on Dundee University bosses and forces outside the control of the Scottish Government.
Scots university students do not currently make any contribution to their tuition, but the money provided by government for each student has been frozen for 15 years.
Real-terms cut
It has led to a 22% real-terms cut in the cash available, leaving universities reliant on international student income to make up the shortfall.
But a decline in the recruitment of foreign students has left many facing significant deficits.
The Fife MSP told BBC: “The issues in relation to Dundee University are quite unique.
“Those relate to alleged financial mismanagement and are not in any way related to issues regarding tuition fees.”
Ms Gilruth highlighted the £25 million in lifeline support her government has made available to the university sector, including Dundee, to help overcome challenges.
But as well as the £35 million deficit at Dundee University, almost half of all other Scottish institutions have reported a spending shortfall.
Edinburgh University has confirmed a £140 million financial deficit, leading to warnings of staff cuts.
Tuition fee policy will not change despite crisis
Ms Gilruth said the policy of free tuition is “well understood” and would not change under her party.
“Free tuition is a policy we will stand by and we must be very careful not to conflate what’s happening in one institution at the current time to be in any way an argument to reintroduce tuition fees.
“What we are seeing is a movement from some to use the incident at Dundee University in some way to justify reintroducing tuition fees.
“That’s not a position we can credibly stand by, because we know, as in the case of Dundee University, tuition fees has not been the major factor.”
But Dundee’s interim principal Shane O’Neill told The Courier previously that it was the underfunding of the sector by government that posed the biggest challenge as he seeks to recover.
While admitting errors had been made by management, he said it would be possible to recover from those if not for the structural underfunding.
He said: “This has been a sector wide problem for quite a while, and I think, some of the institution specific reasons for the crisis we’re in, we would be able to bounce back more easily if those problems of structural underfunding weren’t there in the first place.”
Lack of accountability ‘staggering’
Scottish Conservative education spokesman Miles Briggs said Ms Gilruth’s lack of accountability is “staggering”.
He said: “Her shameful attempt to compare the dire state of university finances in Scotland with elsewhere in the UK highlights the SNP’s unwillingness to face this issue head on.
“Rather than trying to ignore this crisis in the hope it goes away, the SNP government need to listen to the warnings from the sector and explore options for change if we are going to restore Scotland’s reputation for educational excellence.”
Conversation