Jobs to go at College of Education

More than 10 College of Education staff appear set to lose their jobs after the University of Otago dropped two of its teaching programmes.

The Otago Daily Times understands staff will learn their fate at a meeting on Monday and more than 10 jobs will be lost.

The expected job losses come after the university announced in June it would be dropping its one-year graduate diploma and a four-year bachelor's degree in education studies from next year.

An email notifying students of the changes leaked to the Otago Daily Times at the time said the decision was made at the ''university level'' for ''financial reasons''.

The university and the Tertiary Education Union yesterday confirmed a meeting was being held with staff on Monday, but declined to comment on numbers of jobs being cut.

''The university will discuss any proposals with staff at the meeting on Monday and does not wish to pre-empt these discussions,'' director of human resources Kevin Seales said in a statement.

He did not answer questions about staff concerns surrounding

the time it had taken for them to learn whether they would keep their jobs.

Tertiary Education Union organiser Shaun Scott yesterday said the cuts had been ''looming for some months'' and staff were ''really anxious'' ahead of Monday's meeting.

''The delays certainly haven't helped with staff anxieties,'' Mr Scott said.

Humanities pro-vice-chancellor Prof Brian Moloughney earlier in the year said enrolments in the graduate diploma had declined from 188 in 2010 to 96 this year and ''very small numbers'' took the four-year bachelor of education.

If jobs are lost it will be the latest in a string of cuts since the college merged with the university in 2007.

vaughan.elder@odt.co.nz

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