College merger will only bring benefits to students and community

UHI Outer Hebrides (or, as it was known then, Lews Castle College) was first established in 1953 to provide technical training in seamanship and we’ve continued to play a key role in our island communities, contributing to making them an attractive place to stay, live and work.

In 2011, we became part of the UHI partnership, and our traditional vocational offer was extended to include degrees, postgraduate programmes, and research. Since then we’ve built a reputation in digital learning, sustainability and renewables, creative arts, as well as Gaelic culture and language. With campuses in Stornoway, Barra, North Uist, Benbecula, and South Uist, we have always delivered for our communities, and that must continue.

It is one of the main reasons we are exploring merger. Earlier this month, UHI Outer Hebrides launched a 10-week public consultation into its proposed merger with UHI North Highland and UHI West Highland, a move which would create an anchor institution of scale and impact within Highlands and Islands, supporting 9000 students and 600 staff across 19 rural and island campus locations.

We cannot continue with the status quo – our colleges are small, we’re facing real term funding cuts and operating in rural and island communities with small, declining populations.

Our landscape is changing, and we must act now to safeguard what we have achieved over the last 70 years.

Of course, we must avoid centralisation – that commitment is agreed in the business case for merger. Under the proposals, an executive management team and board will be distributed across our existing college areas, ensuring we have local management in place, continued presence in our communities and relationships with key stakeholders are maintained through the formation of local advisory committees. We will also ensure any savings as a direct result of merger are reinvested in our new college.

By coming together, I believe we can create a more resilient, financially sustainable organisation which will allow us to continue to serve our local communities. We don’t plan to lose anything through merger, we plan only to gain through increasing our capacity to do things we can’t do on our own just now. Our region is on the brink of a blue and green industrial revolution and we have a real opportunity to grow our fragile economies and reverse the population decline.

For our students, merger will allow us to enhance their experience, providing a stronger student voice, a wider learning offer and greater access to support services. Through more digital learning, we’ll also be able to widen access to programmes and create more choice.

For our communities, we will ensure learning opportunities remain available across our islands and become a larger organisation with influence, both within UHI and the wider region. Combining our knowledge, skill and resources, we can collectively support developments in renewable and green energy, environmental research and sustainability, aquaculture, engineering and advanced manufacturing, the built environment, leisure and outdoor tourism, hospitality, and health and social care.

We will do all this without detracting from the curriculum which makes UHI Outer Hebrides distinctive. Gaelic will continue to be a priority and we remain committed to driving forward the revitalisation of Gaelic both here, and outwith the Outer Hebrides. Indeed, we want to do more, with ambitions to expand our vocational and community related Gaelic medium programmes. Increasing the number of Gaelic teachers through the four-year Gaelic-medium teacher education programme will also be a priority.

For staff, we provide more resilient teams, support professional development, and, importantly, protect local jobs in our communities. It is essential we remain key employers within our local areas, and we have already ruled out compulsory redundances as a direct result of merger.

By coming together, we do more, not less for our communities. UHI is changing. The education sector is changing. This is our opportunity to take control of our own future, to become a stronger voice for our rural and islands communities, and to ensure we continue to play our role in not only keeping people in the Outer Hebrides but attracting new people to live, work and study here.

Visit www.rural-islands-merger.co.uk. Consultation closes on 14 October.

Archie Macdonald, Chair of the Board of Management at UHI Outer Hebrides.