Fife has seen one of the largest drops in part-time college courses since the SNP came to power.
Figures from the auditor general show more than 19,500 part-time courses have been cut since 2008, and replaced by more than 850 full-time ones. Students say it's worrying because the likes of carers and parents rely on part time education. the figures have been released by Caroline Gardner, the Auditor General for Scotland.
Scottish Conservative MSP for mid Scotland and Fife Murdo Fraser said:
"This is a shocking state of affairs. Figures show that Fife is one of the places hit the hardest by the slashing of part-time college courses and this is unacceptable. Now hundreds of local people are being denied the opportunity to study in a way which is flexible to them. Yet again we see a SNP government has effectively slammed the door on the face of opportunity.
"Small and medium sized businesses are getting increasingly worried about a skills shortage and now we know why. It’s because this Nationalist government’s approach to colleges is failing our students – making the route into college more difficult for normal people who just want to get on in life. We need the Scottish Government to look into this issue before it wreaks people’s opportunities and we need answers now."
A Scottish Government spokesperson said:
"In each of the last three years, we have exceeded our target to maintain the number of full time equivalent students. Since 2008/09 a third more students have completed full time courses leading to qualifications, there has been an increase in both younger and older full-time students and we have made courses that improve a student’s employability our focus with the average hours of education a student receives increasing from 250 to almost 400 under this government.
"Last year saw record levels of student retention, successful completion of courses and a 34% increase in students progressing from college to university with advanced standing since 2009-10."
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