Dundee College has welcomed the announcement of a £15 million fund set up to encourage further education establishments to work more closely together.
The cash, announced by Education Secretary Mike Russell on Wednesday, has prompted criticism in some quarters for aiming to drive on the merger of colleges.
The Scottish Government has set up a Transformation Change Fund that will be available to colleges in 2012-13 to support change in the sector and help fund the cost of regional mergers.
The Education Secretary will write to college leaders and invite them to have further discussions about the detail of the fund.
A spokesman for Dundee College said there is no change in its recently announced determination to remain an autonomous organisation.
He said: ”Dundee College has a long and fruitful history of working in collaboration with other colleges and the university sector.
”In recent years hundreds of students have benefited from our working together with partner organisations both across the country and within the region.”‘Embrace and progress’He added: ”The Post-16 Reform agenda presents both opportunities and challenges for the college sector and we envisage even closer collaboration in future.
”We see this small injection of funding as being helpful in encouraging colleges to embrace and progress the reform to the benefit of learners in this region.”
The college transformation fund will support regional mergers of colleges, in line with the Scottish Government’s post-16 reform agenda.
Further discussions with colleges will determine the exact scope of the support, but it will include help with one off costs associated with mergers.
Mr Russell said: ”Over the last few weeks I have had numerous constructive discussions with college chairs and principals about our plans to reform post-16 education including the move to a regional model of delivery.
”I have been impressed by their willingness to engage and also by their commitment to reform and remove unnecessary duplication of provision. I also recognise their real and genuine concerns about managing budget reductions whilst undergoing a significant change.”
He added: ”That is why I am pleased to be able to commit £15 million into a fund that will support our colleges as they move towards delivering education in regional groups
”This fund will incentivise reform by assisting colleges who wish to merge and will also help with the practicalities, for example by supporting voluntary redundancy schemes.”