College merger confirmed

Russell Steele • Published 1 Feb 2012 15:50 5 Comments

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JAMES Watt College is to merge with Reid Kerr and Clydebank AND lose its Kilwinning campus, the Scottish Government has confirmed.

Education secretary Mike Russell announced details of his controversial further education shake-up this afternoon in the Scottish Parliament.

He insists the revamp, which creates 12 new 'college regions', will see institutions work more collaboratively and 'allow them to plan regionally and deliver locally'.

In a statement to MSPs, Mr Russell said Ayr, Kilmarnock, and the Kilwinning campus of James Watt will work together as an Ayrshire college region.

James Watt will become part of the West region, with its remaining 'Inverclyde campus' joining with Reid Kerr, in Paisley, and Clydebank College.

Mr Russell said: "Our system of post-16 education serves young people in Scotland well.

"Our colleges and universities do a good job of equipping students with the knowledge and skills they need for the workplace.

"However that doesn't mean we are complacent, we need to make sure our system is the best it can be.

"I believe developing a regional basis for colleges will make the sector more efficient and responsive to the needs of students and local economies.

"This approach was proposed in two Scottish Government consultations last year and regionalisation has been strongly supported by the college sector and others in their responses.

"I expect colleges to collaborate and plan together within 12 newly-created regions and plan together and I expect provision to continue to be delivered locally.

"We will now work with the sector and the Scottish Funding Council to put these new arrangements in practice."

This article appeared in Greenock Telegraph 01 Feb 12

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askelvis
456 posts
Feb 1, 16:10
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So do the lecturers still want to strike?.

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Flipper21
34 posts
Feb 1, 17:07
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Well done Pinder, along with your government co-horts you have changed the face of education, and to its detriment. So thank you all for this contribution.

Recommend? Yes 14 No 7
impartial
169 posts
Feb 1, 18:14
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On the plus side all those staff tasked with meetings in Clydebank will be able to fill up with non inflated priced fuel.

Thanks for my HND in Navel Architecture but sadly I feel the college is on a downward spiral. So sad. Prime real estate awaits.

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******
Feb 1, 18:25
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suizie
23 posts
Feb 1, 23:12
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Will it actually change anything ? Will there be more courses on offer ?

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******
Feb 2, 12:06
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Stufer
16 posts
Feb 13, 10:13
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The purpose of regionalisation was a round about way of getting rid of the overpaid inflated managements that have been allowed to build up in Scotland's colleges and James Watt certainly leads the way when it comes to this type of corruption.

This hasn't escaped the attention of the education secretary Mike Russell nor his Boss Alex salmond, who actually costs the public purse considerably less than JWC principle Sue Pinder does.

The more money that the JWC leadership team pay themselves the less is left for teaching provision. Thatcher privatised much of the public sector and colleges didn't escape this. Running them like commercial businesses led to provision being made cheaper and cheaper and colleges competing against each other for business with no consistency as to how courses are delivered across the sector. The only body left protecting the quality of education is the teachers themselves and their union the EIS.

Because of this structure it is difficult for the government to intervene directly so the regionalisation process will eliminate task duplication in college managements and make it harder for the parasitical leadership teams to justify their own existences. Splitting the JWC Greenock and North Ayrshire campuses between 2 different regions is just another way for the Scottish government to break up the little, well not so little, self appointing and gratifying gang that is JWC leadership team.

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