Loss of further education campus in East Belfast will reinforce challenges facing communities experiencing educational disadvantage

Unite the union has written to economy minister Conor Murphy to express the concerns of workers at the Castlereagh campus in East Belfast at proposals by the management of the Belfast Metropolitan College to close the facility as a cost-saving measure. 

Belfast Met currently operates four campuses; two in the city centre, at Millfield and in the Titanic quarter; the e3 campus at Springvale in West Belfast and the one at Castlereagh. The college is proposing to close the East Belfast facility to cut costs. 

In seeking an urgent meeting with the economy minister, Unite has expressed its fears that the decision appears a “fait accompli” and it would have a profound impact on the local community, pupils and staff.

The existing Castlereagh campus is located centrally in East Belfast, an area in which communities have been characterised by long-term educational disadvantage and under achievement. The campus has historically played a key role in providing easy access to training and upskilling for working class communities in the east of the city to meet labour market demand in the industrialised zone around the shipyard. 

Unite regional officer Kieran Ellison said: “The consultation by Belfast Met over the proposal appears to be a ‘fait accompli’. This decision will not only have an impact on the Unite members working at the Castlereagh campus but threatens to cut off access to training and upskilling opportunities in what is an area characterised by educational underachievement. 

“The decision to close Castlereagh is being driven by financial considerations and inadequate budgets. Unite has written to the economy minister to discuss this issue and what can be done to either avoid the closure or if that is not possible how a similar sized campus can be maintained in the locality. We cannot allow a community to be left behind. 

“In meeting the minister Unite will also be raising concerns over plans for sweeping redundancies across the further education sector. Cuts to further education are a self-defeating and false economy.”