BRITISH lecturers claimed a victory recently after their university pulled out of a deal that would have led to the privatization of their English language studies department, The Guardian has reported.
The lecturers led a protest against plans for the firm INTO University Partnerships Ltd (INTO) to run the International Center for English Language Studies (ICELS) at Oxford Brookes University. INTO is a private company that offers English language courses and international students management.
The University and College Union (UCU) of the UK, which represents further and higher education lecturers, researchers and many academic-related staff across the country, opposed the introduction of INTO. They feared academic standards would drop if the department were run by a commercial organization.
Sally Hunt, joint general secretary of UCU, said: “I am delighted for ICELS staff and students that Oxford Brookes has decided to send INTO away after a proactive local campaign, strongly supported by UCU regionally and nationally.”
INTO has already signed similar deals with the University of Exeter. INTO University of Exeter, the partnership between the University of Exeter and INTO, provides an initial investment of ￡35 million (US$69 million) for the development of new facilities.
As well as the deal at the University of Exeter and some other universities such as Newcastle University and the University of East Anglia, INTO is looking to push ahead with deals at 10 more universities across the country.
Angie Pears, co-chairwoman of Oxford Brookes UCU, said she hoped other universities who are in the process of negotiating similar deals with INTO would follow the example set by Oxford Brookes.
Hunt said that,“this privatization threatens both the quality of educational provision and the pay and conditions of university staff. INTO and others like them should be in little doubt that they are not welcomed by the vast majority of those who work in higher education. ”
In a statement, INTO said it fully respected Oxford Brookes’ decision. A company spokesman said: “Each set of discussions with each university teaches us more, as every INTO solution is bespoke to the needs of its partner. This early-stage process at Oxford Brookes has helped us understand better the needs of universities and their staff, and devise ways of accommodating these within an INTO solution.”
