Moray House refurbishment faces set back

The University of Edinburgh’s teaching campus is facing independent cutbacks to its revamping plans and to its teaching staff and students.

University bosses initially had plans to tear down the 50-year old buildings of the Moray House of Education, located just off the Royal Mile, and to replace them with new teaching facilities, student apartments, offices, shops, bars, pubs, and restaurants.

Objections came quickly from local residents and community groups. In particular, they were concerned that the height of the two tallest buildings would negatively impact the city’s historic Old Town, a World Heritage Site.

Changes to the initial building plans include scaling down the height of the two tallest buildings from 77m to 70m, and switching from private-owned flats to postgraduate student accommodation. The student accommodation will house a total of 912 rooms, down 80 from initial plans.

Jane Johnston, University of Edinburgh estate development manager, explained that the decision to build university-owned student accommodation was due to the drop in the price of the property as well as the need for more postgraduate rooms.

City Council planning officials have now approved the building scheme and have recommended that the project carry on.

Moray House is also facing cutbacks to its teaching staff, as the Scottish Government has decided to temporarily scale back on the number of new teachers being trained to reduce current teacher unemployment.

One quarter of the current staff of the Moray House are at risk of losing their jobs because of the University’s reduction in teaching places. The number of positions for the one-year primary Postgraduate Diploma of Education (PGDE) programme has been reduced from 280 last year to 66 this year, while the one-year secondary PDGE programme decreases from 186 to 142 and the four-year Bachelor of Education primary teaching programme from 185 to 125.

A total of 40 staff risk losing their jobs because of the class size cutbacks.

Several education lecturers have publicly stated their opposition to the cutbacks. Terry Wrigley, senior lecturer in education at Moray House and the University and College Union's Edinburgh representative, argued against the temporary scale-back, stating: "Within a year or so they will have to raise the numbers again but, by that time, they will have thrown away vast expertise.”

Staff members are expected to be officially alerted of the cutbacks by the end of February.