Colleges in talks on merger 'for benefit of students'

From the archive, first published Saturday 9th Dec 2006.

Ambitious plans to merge Bradford and Keighley Coll-eges have been unveiled.

Top managers and governors, who make up the confederation at Keighley College, will consider the merger proposal by Bradford College - and those by Craven College, Newcastle College and Park Lane College at Leeds - during a special meeting on Monday.

Their decision will ultimately decide the fate of the college, which advertised for merger partners earlier this year because of financial problems.

The decision to merge has already sparked opposition from Keighley College lecturers who have rejected the move, although a survey of union members showed a majority in favour of linking up with Craven College in Skipton.

College principal Chris Moore responded by claiming the survey was not representative because only 30 per cent of the teaching staff were in the union and just over half of those responded.

Bradford and Keighley Colleges will both be celebrating their 175th anniversaries next year. And Bradford College principal and chief executive Michele Sutton believes the two institutions share more than just a creation date.

She believes the joint work on projects such as the Train to Gain programme and the WomenBuild project make a merger with Bradford College the most sensible choice for the Keighley bosses.

She said: "We believe that we can bring higher education into the heart of Keighley where it doesn't exist at the moment."

A DVD outlining the merger plans which was shown to the confederation has also been played to key representatives in Bradford and Keighley.

It emphasises the similarities between the two areas and highlights the development that Bradford College is planning for the future, including becoming an enterprise university.

Mrs Sutton said: "The regeneration of the two areas - Keighley and Bradford - will be promoted through the development of the two colleges.

"Bradford College has been delivering higher education to students for 20 years and we currently have more than 4,000 students.

"There's a lot of cross-over between the two colleges - both staff and students travel in both directions.

"And a lot of students who do courses at Keighley come over to Bradford to do higher education courses."

One of the main links between the two institutions is the similarities in the make-up of the communities and the populations.

That fact may place Bradford College ahead of its rural rival Craven College and Newcastle, with its North-East focus, in terms of being potential merger partners.

Mrs Sutton said: "We understand the local profile and we work very closely with the voluntary and community sectors to support different communities in Bradford."

Bradford Council leader Councillor Kris Hopkins said the main issue was making sure high quality education was delivered, whichever merger was successful.

He said: "It must be able to deliver the high level of skills which will be needed by employers in the district to help drive the economy of Airedale forward."

The confederation will be meeting at Keighley College at 5.30pm on Monday to come up with its recommendations for merger.

e-mail: sunita.bhatti @bradford.newsquest.co.uk