University entry warning

Press, 2 August 1983, Page 3

University entry warning

Parliamentary reporter The University Grants Committee has warned that entry to universities will soon be restricted if staff cuts continue. In its annual report to Parliament, the committee said that the Government’s 3 per cent spending cuts would mean the abolition of about 100 academic and 100 non-academic posts before April, 1984. “Staff reductions of this magnitude will inevitably lead to a reconsideration of the current policy that all persons who are academically qualified to enter a university can expect to be admitted,” the committee

said. “In view of the continuing decline in staff numbers the point must soon be reached when total student entry should be constrained. Such a step would represent a major change in the policy of university education.” The Government allowed universities to spread the $6.5 million saving required by the 3 per cent cuts over three years. This was to allow staff, whose salaries make up 89 per cent of university spending, to be reduced by resignations and retirements.

The committee said the cuts had made already high

student-staff ratios even worse. “Reductions of this size, at a time when university rolls are increasing by more than 1000 students annually, mean that staff must be spread more thinly over a larger student body.” Restricting student entry would be a slow process needing careful consideration. The committee said a set of admission criteria would have to be agreed on that could include:

• Judgments on which categories of graduates should be restricted on the basis of market demand for their services.

® Whether universities should continue to admit overseas students and “mature age” students.

® A clear statement of the functions and purposes of the universities. The committee’s secretary, Mr J. Caldwell, said yesterday that there was as yet no formal proposal to restrict student entry. “It is just the sounding of a warning,” he said.

It was a fact that universities were suffering through the loss of staff. If it came to the point where the quality of education was affected, then “something would have to be done,” he said.