pounds 31M cut to Open Uni fund

0 Comments | Sunday Mirror, Jan 27, 2008

THE Open University is facing a pounds 31.6million cut in its government funding.

It is part of Treasury plans to slash pounds 180million in handouts to universities, city colleges and academies for students taking a second degree.

They include mums who want to retrain and return to work, people changing careers and teachers who want to learn new skills.

The Open University cuts are most controversial because it was set up to help people who would normally have little or no chance of going to uni.

Skills minister John Denham insisted the cash will go to more first degree courses, adding: "No money is being lost to further education."

But university bosses claim the cuts will hit efforts to plug Britain's skills gap.