Fund cuts detrimental to excellence of UK education: Say academics

 As per the official plans in Britain, there will be 25 per cent budgetary cuts in education funding this year. This cut down will diminish the magnetism of Britain for the students from India and other European Union countries. A union has pointed out that that these countries give a contribution of more than eight billion pounds to the British economy every year.

This declaration of 25 per cent cut by the David Cameron government will eventually prove a setback to the country’s economy. The Universities and College Union (UCU) state that this cut down will result in loss of more than 22000 jobs in the colleges and universities which would normally take in about 10000 academic jobs.

UCU warned that increase in the size of the classroom and less contact time with lecturers would make it a far less eye-catching place to study for the overseas learners. These overseas learners give a current contribution of 8.5 billion pounds to the economy year.

This proposal of cut down in funds might also affect many Indian origin academics in the British universities.

Reacting to the government’s move, general secretary of UCU, Sally Hunt said:

"Do we really want to be left behind and risk being shunned by foreign students who will go to study elsewhere? We have a proud international reputation, but we realistically cannot expect to remain a major force in the global knowledge economy in the face of these cuts". 

The Cameroon government’s move came in for sharp criticism from a cross section of the British society who say such arbitrary decisions not only harm the excellence of education but also drastically reduce its contribution in economy.