Nurseries closing down on campus
Government cuts in funding for further education are being blamed for the closure of nurseries on college sites, including a highly-regarded facility for training childcare staff in Hartlepool, Co Durham. The 13 staff at the Hartlepool College of Further Education's nursery have been told that their jobs are being axed and the childcare facility closed at the end of July because of a cut in the college's budget for adult education.
The 13 staff at the Hartlepool College of Further Education's nursery have been told that their jobs are being axed and the childcare facility closed at the end of July because of a cut in the college's budget for adult education.
Similar reasons have been cited for the closure of a nursery at Burnley College in Lancashire, where parents are waging a vigorous campaign for it to be reopened. They have argued that the closures fly in the face of Government policy to get them into work through training and help with childcare.
Gail Bennison, who has been manager of the Hartlepool nursery for five years and teaches nursery nurses at the college, said the proposed closure will be a blow to the whole of the town, as it provides childcare not just for college students but also term-time employees, such as teachers and school support staff.
College principal David Waddington said the nursery had made significant losses last year and the deficit was set to rise this year. However, Mrs Bennison said that while the nursery had not reached its income targets, it remained viable, with good occupancy levels, and it was not expected to be profitable.
She asked, 'Where are the students going to go? Where are the parents going to go? All the other nurseries in the area have told me they are full. One parent has been offered a place at Teesside University but can't go because she no longer has a place for her child.'
Burnley College said that it had to close the nursery because of 'Government cuts in funding for mainstream courses for adults' and the need to 'protect the quality of its sixth form provision'.
A spokesman for the college said it would continue to provide support for childcare so that parents can gain qualifications 'by supplementing Government nursery grants, where necessary, by cash grants from the college'.
Meanwhile, Sheffield College said the closure of its Stocksbridge nursery was inevitable because only a small number of its places were taken up by students. A spokesman said, 'Of the 15 applications for a college nursery place at Stocksbridge for September 2006, only one is from a potential student.'
