One in all Scotland’s main universities has needed to lease out a cinema advanced for lectures.
Undergraduates at Glasgow College will attend the Grosvenor Image Theatre, in the town’s West Finish, for daytime courses. Excessive numbers of scholar enrolling this 12 months has created a scarcity of lecture theatres and research areas, and sparked an lodging disaster.
And final week it emerged that some college students could need to drop out of programs. They've been informed to not enrol in the event that they don’t have digs. Glasgow College Pupil Consultant Council (SRC) has blamed senior college administration for recruiting too many college students.
It additionally mentioned the college ignored a request final 12 months to maintain a lid on scholar numbers. An SRC spokesperson added: “We want to specific our disappointment on the college’s strategy.
“After the lodging disaster throughout Glasgow final 12 months, the SRC lobbied the college to decide to a moratorium on scholar numbers. Regardless of this, it now appears over-recruitment has contributed to the creation of an identical state of affairs.
“We'll proceed to work to encourage the college to take a stronger strategy to managing scholar numbers.”
Rinna Vare, president of the SRC, mentioned it was conscious of the choice to make use of the Grosvenor for lectures and added: “We'll proceed to demand the college management scholar numbers sooner or later to keep away from crises like this. We consider they need to have foreseen this concern.”
The Grosvenor, in Ashton Lane, has two screens and was lately refurbished to incorporate tables and luxurious leather-based armchair seating. Their web site states the cinema and each screens are for rent for personal use. They cost the general public £650 to rent one display screen for a day however it isn't identified what the college is paying.
In the course of the pandemic, some cinemas have been transformed to be used as courts. Mary Senior, of the College and School Union, which represents lecturers throughout Scotland, mentioned she can be on the lookout for assurances that the cinema meets well being and security requirements.
She added: “I’m stunned the college shouldn't be wanting on the possibility of delivering these lectures just about. It's also a determined state of affairs when college students are being suggested to defer and even withdraw from research as a result of unavailability of lodging.
“The rampant commercialisation of upper schooling, the pressures to draw extra worldwide college students, together with the extra scholar consumption, is fuelling this catastrophe.”
A Glasgow College spokeswoman mentioned: “We're making use of some educating rooms near campus whereas refurbishment work is underneath method throughout the campus. This contains house on the Grosvenor Image Theatre.”
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