Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

SNP education chief blames Dundee University bosses for crisis as she defends tuition fee policy

Jenny Gilruth sought to lay the blame on Dundee University bosses as she argued the crisis is not a reason to reintroduce tuition fees.

SNP education boss Jenny Gilruth.
Jenny Gilruth defended her party's longstanding policy. Image: DC Thomson.

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

Dundee University
Jenny Gilruth insisted the problems at Dundee University are “unique” despite years of underfunding. Image: Mhairi Edwards/DC Thomson.

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.”

Dundee University principal Professor Shane O'Neill
Dundee University interim principal Shane O’Neill. Image: Kim Cessford/DC Thomson.

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