Governors forced out by student and staff revolt

THE board of governors at London Metropolitan University have dramatically quit following a storm of protest.
Chairman Peter Anwyl will leave in March and the other 14 governors will leave by August.
Union chiefs had called for “heads to roll” following publication of two damning reports into a financial scandal and after the Government’s higher education authority wrote to governors asking them to “consider their positions”.
Around 250 lecturers and staff have already lost their jobs and courses are being disrupted or closed down completely
University College Union general secretary Sally Hunt said the governors should quit with immediate effect, adding: “We need one quick blow from a guillotine, not numerous hacks from a blunt axe.”
The mass resignation follows a protest outside the university’s headquarters in Moorgate on Tuesday.
Around 100 staff and students broke through police barriers and poured into the foyer before two riot vans arrived and around 20 officers began dragging them out to cries of “shame on you”.
London Metropolitan University (LMU) was plunged into crisis in January after an audit by the Higher Education Funding Council for England (Hefce) found it had wrongly claimed more than £36 million between 2005-2008.
LMU reported student drop-out rates at around 2-4 per cent, despite their normal figures averaging around 30 per cent.
More than 500 full time posts could be lost and entire departments could close as the university desperately attempts to claw back the cash.
With the governing board sacked, attentions are turning to what the future holds for staff and students who are paying the price for poor management blunders.
A joint statement issued by LMU and HEFCE said: “The wellbeing of students, the motivation of staff and the establishment of an effective system of governance and management will be our focus in moving forward”.
Around 97 per cent of LMU’s students come from state schools and it is credited with bringing higher education to students who would not expect a university education.
Islington north MP Jeremy Corbyn tabled an early day motion on Monday for the House “to note that because of the inaccurate reporting hundreds of jobs have been lost, more are at risk and educational opportunities for students, many of them non-traditional students, including some of the most disadvantaged in the capital, have been put at risk.”
It had been signed by 42 MPs when the Tribune went to press last night.
by TOM FOOT and JOE RENNISON