Manchester University must think again about cuts to languages | Letters
As senior representatives for modern languages in the UK, we are surprised and disturbed to hear that the University of Manchester plans to cut 35 posts in its School of arts, languages and cultures, alongside further jobs in business and in biology, medicine and health. Staff in German, French, Italian, Hebrew and Spanish have been told that their jobs are "at risk" because these areas supposedly recruit fewer and lower quality students than the Russell Group tariff average. We have not seen hard evidence of this claim; we do know that modern languages at Manchester have a stellar reputation nationally and internationally, and that the areas targeted for radical reduction have excellent student ratings for teaching quality as well as very significant research power. Recent harsh marking in modern languages A-levels has led to a mistaken perception of applicants as being of "lower quality"; and at a time when there is a clear need to stimulate recruitment for modern languages across higher education, we urge the university to address the issue positively and proactively in the context of a proven and urgent need for graduates with languages in the UK (see, for example, the British Chambers of Commerce and British Council reports).
It is worth recalling that over 3m has been awarded to Manchester precisely to support and encourage research in modern languages 2016-2020. The university signed a letter of support for modern languages which was received by the Arts and Humanities Research Council in connection with Manchester's Open World Research Initiative (OWRI) application in 2015.
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