FORMER Labour Minister BRIAN WILSON on Alex Salmond and the Nationalists' college funding fiasco.
DID Alex Salmond know he was not speaking the truth when he repeatedly told Holyrood that
funding for our further education colleges is rising, rather than suffering drastic cuts?
Or did he genuinely not know that he was misleading MSPs and viewers at home, as he later claimed?
It is difficult to decide which would be the more damaging charge ? ignorance or dishonesty.
First, let?s get the key fact right. Scotland?s further education sector is suffering a 24 per cent cut in funding over three years, including ?10 million in the current one.
This is already leading to thousands of students being refused places, hundreds of jobs being lost and many courses disappearing.
Personally, I find it inconceivable that the First Minister was unaware of any of this. Rather, he was relying on bluster and bogus figures to get him through a difficult question time ? weapons that have served him well in the past. This time he got caught.
The whole episode confirmed the bewildering level of contempt with which the SNP Government have treated the FE sector. Not only has funding to the colleges been cut, but the bursaries on which low-income students depend have been slashed by ?1700 a year.
While the SNP boast about tuition being free for even the wealthiest students at Scottish universities, the pips have been squeezed at our FE Colleges ? which are far more
relevant to many Scottish families and communities.
As a parent and former Scottish education minister, I have a huge respect for what our colleges deliver. They are the providers of skills every community depends on and the range of options they offer is marvellous ? everything from special educational needs to awarding degrees.
The colleges are vital in delivering vocational training and offering an educational route for youngsters who, at the point of leaving school, would never dream of going to university.
At a time when job opportunities are so limited, the role of FE colleges is even more vital.
Their other strong characteristic has long been local involvement and accountability ? something else the SNP seem hell-bent on destroying in their endless quest for central control by ministers over every aspect of Scottish public life.
In order to save money, they are imposing a strategy of mergers so that FE colleges will be organised on a regional rather than local basis.
This might make sense in some places. But in others, it is crucial to maintain local identity and the special focus of individual colleges.
That agenda broke into the open last week with the forced resignation of Kirk Ramsay, the chairman of Stow College board in Glasgow.
His cardinal offence was to have recorded remarks made by Michael Russell, the Education Minister, at a meeting attended by 80 people ? not exactly a private chat.
Russell, long noted for his arrogant disposition, demanded and eventually got the resignation of this successful individual who cared enough about Stow College to devote his time to chairing its Board. But what offence did Ramsay commit?
He presumably wanted an accurate record of what the minister said about mergers, rather than some edited version approved by his spin-doctors. That seems fair enough ? no politician should be afraid to stand by what he or she actually said.
The use of tape recorders by anyone who wants an accurate record is commonplace ? particularly when someone as slippery as Russell is the speaker. Stow College is noted for teaching secretarial skills ? I wonder if a shorthand note would also have earned a Russell red card?
Ramsay?s later claim that there is a climate of fear in Scottish education, based on the belief that anyone who stands up to Russell will risk being victimised, has the ring of truth.
That is a terrible indictment of how any minister operates. Let?s hope more people in Scottish education circles now feel emboldened to relate their own experiences.
A couple of days later, both Russell and John Swinney were at Salmond?s side as he misled Holyrood over spending on further education.
There was the usual exaggerated head-nodding and table-thumping ? even though both of them must have known their great leader was not telling the truth.
They need to be reminded this is not just a political game.
The youngsters who cannot go to college because of these cuts have real needs. The people who have lost their jobs, from cleaners to lecturers, face real challenges.
They are already victims of a very foolish mindset which is treating colleges with contempt. Even more than MSPs, they are the ones who deserve an apology from Messrs Salmond and Russell.
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