''Serious concerns'' about a proposal to slash staff numbers at the College of Education have been raised.
Otago Secondary Principals' Association president Mason Stretch yesterday attacked the lack of consultation about the proposed job cuts and the loss of skills which could result.
''We have serious concerns with such a significant cut in staffing and are disappointed with the lack of consultation with principals about this change,'' Mr Stretch said.
College staff were informed at a meeting on Monday of the proposal to cut 20 full-time equivalent (FTE) positions.
Academic staff would be reduced to 38 FTEs from 49.6 and general staff cut to 10.13 FTEs from 18.34 under the proposal.
The proposed cuts marked the latest in a string of job losses since the college merged with the University of Otago in 2007. Fifteen positions at the college were cut in 2010.
''The College of Education has already lost valuable staff through various restructures,'' Mr Stretch said.
''A further loss of experienced, passionate and skilled teaching staff must put pressure on those remaining to deliver quality teacher training programmes.
''Developing confident, skilled teaching professionals is a challenging and rewarding task that requires the right people and significant investment. A reduction in staffing in this area impacts on the readiness of our new teachers to cope successfully with the demands of our profession.''
A university spokeswoman said the university would not be commenting until consultation on the proposal was complete.
Tertiary Education Union organiser Shaun Scott told the Otago Daily Times on Monday consultation was expected to be completed by early next month with a final decision set to be made after October 13.
College staff were ''pretty pessimistic'' about preventing the cuts, he said.
The proposed cuts come after the university announced in June it would drop its one-year graduate diploma and a four-year bachelor's degree in education studies from next year.
Humanities pro-vice-chancellor Prof Brian Moloughney said earlier in the year 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 degree.
