Students and lecturers have staged a protest outside the Scottish Parliament over plans to cut more than £100 million from the education budget.
Around 200 people gathered outside Holyrood to urge the Scottish Government to halt proposed cuts to higher and further education funding, at the Rally for Education organised by the National Union of Students (NUS) Scotland.
Speakers from across the education system told how students and staff on “precarious” contracts live in poverty, while voicing anger at spending on “vanity projects” and real-terms pay cuts.
Protesters held placards which read “Tax the rich, not our unis” and “Students are broke, the system is broken”, and chanted: “What do we want? Rent controls. When do we want them? Now.”
NUS Scotland president Ellie Gomersall said: “Cleaners and people working in canteens are experiencing the same poverty that we (students) are experiencing. Meanwhile principal and vice-principals are on more than the First Minister. The money is going into their pockets. We need an education system which is fully funded.”
Pam Duncan-Glancy MSP, Labour’s spokeswoman for education and skills, said: “Students from the poorest backgrounds are facing the highest debts. We’ve got a mental health crisis on campus, students are struggling to make ends meet. I’m not surprised people are protesting outside the Scottish Parliament.”
Cameron Fields, 23, a final year student at Heriot-Watt University, said his situation has got “worse and worse” since he moved from Bangor, Northern Ireland, during which time he struggled to find a place to live and then faced a number of rent increases.
Mr Fields said: “We want more funding. Every year my university life has got worse and worse. In my second year I was sofa-surfing for six weeks because I couldn’t find a flat.”
His friend Ben Aker, 19, from Arizona in the US, is campaigning for better accommodation at the University of Stirling, saying he was hit with a 9% rent increase last year and expects another rise this year.
Mr Aker said: “We have to ask the question, are these universities just landlords with teachers?”
Mary Senior, from the University and College Union, said: “Universities can’t cover the cost of taking Scottish-domiciled students. International students shouldn’t be treated as cash cows in plugging gaps. We need to properly fund the teaching that’s declined in universities.
“We are seeing cuts to the number of student places being taken, we are fighting against the cuts to modern languages at the University of Aberdeen, and precarious employment.”
Ben Kinross, from the National Society of Apprentices, said it was “absolutely galling” to hear the Scottish Government “plead poverty” when apprentices are paid £5.68 per hour.
He told the crowd that 20% of apprentices say they cannot afford period products, and he urged Labour to make itself “credible” by backing a living wage for apprentices.
Mr Kinross said: “Apprentices spend £600 on tools and they are paid half the minimum wage.”
Lecturer Mike Cowley said he has taught at Edinburgh College’s Granton campus for two decades and is currently working to contract, and will be on a strike planned for next week with the EIS-Fela union.
Mr Cowley described his work as a vocation to “serve our local communities”, but said staff are facing a “crisis of morale” and “massive burnout”, while students needing help are being let down.
A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “It is right that we are taking strong action to support students through the cost-of-living crisis with an enhanced student support offering which ensures people receive the support they need to attend university.
“Along with our firm commitment to free tuition, this is ensuring access to university in Scotland remains based on the ability to learn and not the ability to pay.
“That is why we are seeing a record number of Scottish students being accepted to our universities, a record number of full-time first degree entrants coming from our most deprived communities, and why Scotland has the lowest student debt levels in the UK, almost three times lower than in England.
“New measures announced this week will provide support for students over the summer months, following the recent £2,400 increase to the annual support package which sees the main undergraduate funding package rise up to £11,400.”