December 8 2022
The announcement of a planned merger of the universities of Adelaide and South Australia threatens jobs and the student experience, warn the Greens.
“The latest merger talks raise serious questions for the higher education sector in our state. There is no evidence that a merger would improve the ranking of SA universities. The experience of mergers from interstate and overseas demonstrates that they inevitably result in job losses and a reduction in the quality of the student experience,” said Greens SA Education Spokesperson, Robert Simms MLC.
“Given all of the challenges faced by the university sector in SA after 3 years of COVID, this will be unwelcome news for workers in the lead up to Christmas.”
“In signing a ‘statement of cooperation’, the State Government is pre-empting its own amalgamation commission. Taxpayers also deserve to know how much money the Government will be putting on the table to facilitate this merger - surely this is money that could be better spend on increasing staff numbers and reducing casualisation.”
“Finally, Flinders University is the elephant in the room here. What is the Government’s vision for Flinders University? Why have they not been included in the talks?”