Closures are supposedly approximately ‘putting students first’,but they will shut out those the university was set up to serveSince the Open University (OU) was launched in 1969, nearly two million students have passed through its doors, or working to achieve their dream of getting a degree. Many advance to us with cramped education beyond GCSE and we have prided ourselves on helping them to change their lives through our tried--and-tested system of distance education delivered locally. That system is now under serious threat.
Last month the Open University announced that it would shut the doors of seven of its nine regional centres in England,including the one where I work. This will mean relocation for a few, but redundancy for more than 500 people working in those centres. Management insists that the plans are driven not by finance but by a desire to “put students first”. This just doesn’t stack up.
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Source: theguardian.com