Urgent talks over the future of courses have been demanded by Fife Council, amid worries over Fife College’s withdrawal from Elmwood campus.
Supported learning programmes for young people with learning disabilities are among those which will be hit when the college quits its Cupar base in 2016.
Parents of schoolchildren due to progress to the college fear they will struggle with travelling further afield to an unfamiliar setting. Councillors have requested an emergency meeting with college chiefs to learn more about their plan to find “new ways” of delivering courses in the area.
Calling for an urgent discussion during a meeting of the full Fife Council, Fife Liberal Democrat leader Tim Brett said the move would have “serious effects” for students and their families.
He said the parents of a pupil due to move from a local school’s supported learning department to the college feared he would struggle with the move to another campus.
“He would not be able to cope with travelling a long distance to Kirkcaldy, Glenrothes or possibly even Dunfermline,” Councillor Brett said.
“I strongly believe special consideration needs to be given to this group of students. There is no information about what alternative arrangements will be made to deliver these courses.
“I would expect Fife College, as the regional college for the communities of Fife, would offer level one courses for the whole of Fife and it looks as though this will not happen in north-east Fife.”
Voicing concerns echoed around the chamber about the apparent lack of consultation and warning of the announcement, Mr Brett said: “The first we heard was when some of the teaching staff raised this as a possibility with parents of pupils with special needs in some of the schools.”
St Andrews Labour councillor Brian Thomson said most of the courses at the campus will continue to be delivered by Scotland’s agricultural college, SRUC, which shares the building with Fife College. He said the college’s budget has been cut by £5.8 million since 2010/11 but agreed a meeting is needed soon.
Councillor Lesley Laird, depute council leader, said: “The way forward is to get round the table with Fife College to talk about its plans and come up with an appropriate means of engaging with the community so that anxieties can be removed.”
Announcing its withdrawal from Elmwood earlier this month, Fife Council said it “remained committed to ensuring a range of courses and learning opportunities are available for people in north-east Fife”.
It also said consultations would be held with various partners, staff, students and the community over the next few months.
Fife College took over some courses at Elmwood when it was created last year by a merger between Elmwood, Adam Smith and Carnegie colleges.
The majority of the Cupar courses are run by SRUC, which is to remain.