Blog: Staff at Shrewsbury Sixth Form College have been protesting today over Government cuts which they say will force the college to make up to 29 members (that’s one fifth) of staff redundant over the period of one year.

The march was organised by the National Union of Teachers (NUT), and at least 40 of its members were expected as well as students and representatives from other unions.

Although around 100 people came to support the cause, the police were obviously not expecting any trouble, with only one officer and two CSO’s attending the march.

Before the march I spoke to Alan Roberts, a member of staff at the college and also its NUT union rep, to ask why they feel so strongly.

He said : “This is absolutely great college to work at, and we love working here. We think that we provide fantastic education for the students here. We want to continue that,  but of course with the current climate of cuts and the way the cuts being managed, we feel that situation could result in some impact on the students’ education.”

“We want to maintain standards but,at the end of the day, as staff we have concerns for the students, we have concerns for education and we want to maintain that standard for the short and long term.”

Marchers chanted for Cameron and Clegg to resign, and also called for “education for the masses, not just for the ruling classes”.

Personally, I felt that the march went well. A lot of people feel strongly about what’s happening, me included, and the overall feeling was one of anger and disappointment at the compulsory redundancies that will happen in college.

The march in Shrewsbury has been replicated all over the country, and it won’t be the last demonstation; there are plans for a large strike towards the end of June.

After the march finished I spoke again with Alan Roberts. He said he thought it had been a good event. “Teaching, support staff and students came out to support us. We made a lot of noise and really raised the concerns that we have about the likely impact of Government cuts upon this sixth form college.”

Mr Roberts said the college is a fantastic place to work. As a student I can echo that; it is a BRILLIANT college, and I don’t want to see the loss of any of any member of staff.

The main question is, Did the management of the college get the message? We hope so, but we will only find out if these compulsory redundancies take place.