the most far-reaching changes in post-school education for many years. Starting in 1993 the distinction between polytechnics, colleges of higher education and universities is to go. Colleges of further education will, like polytechnics were in 1989, be removed from local authority control and funded centrally. Polytechnics are clearly seen by the Tories as the model for the whole post-school sector. CLIVE ANDREWS looks at how this massive restructuring has affected the poly sector, particularly since 1989, and shows what the Tories' latest plans will really mean for college education as a whole. The most obvious feature of the last decade has been the escalating attack on staff and student conditions. Student to staff ratios rose on average from 8.4 to 1 in 1979/80 to 12.4 to 1 in 1986/87. Now they are much higher and getting worse.
Brighton Poly claims that its ratio will have to rise from the current 15 to 1 to over 20 to 1 in the mid 1990s in order to balance the books. It could face a £17 million deficit by 1995 unless staffing levels are cut by a third. It is already cutting part-time staff and lecturers on fixed-term contracts.
The cause of the crisis? The system of competitive bidding for funds introduced in the Education Reform Act (1989). Polys are allocated funds for courses on the basis of running them cheaply. At Oxford Poly John Major recently announced the Tories' plans for for use of facilities and for some lecture courses now have over 400 students.
Employers have responded by trying to impose new contracts on poly lecturing staff. This led to two industrial dis putes last year. While the resulting new contract is marginally better than the first, it still allows for significant increases in teaching loads. Meanwhile the threat of competitive tendering is constantly used against cleaning, caretaking and catering stafi Polys are being privatised from the inside. The shortfall in government funding is made up increasingly from students being accepted on a fee-paying basis, from Britain and abroad.
Staff who recruit these students are in effect running private echicational businesses within polys. Thy obtain large fees themselves and negotiate deals with the college these fit in with the new having the college's name on qualifications. Ability to bring in external funds is often a factor in new staff appraisal schemes.
The door is open for polys to become diversified businesses. Property dealing is becoming increasingly popular. One of the highest paid staff at Thames Poly is the Property Manager As the college merges with less competitive institutions in London it sells off the latters buildings. This was attempted with South West London ColPolyt huni and Colleges Fund the ing Council (PCFC). Instead the PČFC closed the college leaving 200 staff facing redundancy.
Predictably outside activities that are critical of corporate interests are not favoured highiy. were pressurised into stopping an investigation into working conditions at Nissan's NorthEast plant. Peter Wickens, Director of Nissan, is a member of the poly's board of gover3101b. Any fightback in the polys will have to take on not just the cuts, but also the insidious change in the nature of polytechnics. Institutions have een forced to 'opt out' and competeagainst one another. In this way they present a picture of what the Tories plan for the health service and for the rest of the education system and it is not a pretty one.
NEC's response and calling for Researchers at Sunderland Poly Clowning around with colleges - Education Secretary Kenneth Clarke Like aspects of Because Local Education