Plymouth protests against education cuts

The protest, which has been organised by members of UCU, will begin at 1pm at the Kings Road site of City College Plymouth.
 
The demonstration is part of the union's 'defend jobs, defend education' campaign and will highlight the impact cuts will have on local services. A number of basic skills courses are at risk at City College Plymouth as a result of government cuts to adult learning.
 
Wednesday's demonstration could be the first of several protests in the region. Cornwall College and City of Bristol College are both looking to get rid of over 100 staff and City of Bath College has announced plans for 62 redundancies.
 
UCU regional official for the south-west, Nova Gresham, said: 'This protest is our way of letting people in Plymouth know that UCU will continue to fight to protect students and jobs. The bottom line is that cuts have consequences. If the south-west wants to play its part in helping the UK emerge out of recession we cannot afford to have teachers on the dole queue and students left without a college or university place.
 
'These cuts will hurt the local economy and lead to many vital local services being slashed. Cuts to education are bad news for the country and for the region.'