STUDENTS PROTEST AGAINST 265 UNIVERSITY STAFF CUTS

DOZENS of students took part in a protest on the University of Derby's main campus after it announced proposals which could see around 265 staff members lose their jobs.

- By OSCAR FISHER

Up to 50 students took part in a peaceful protest at the Kedleston Road campus on Tuesday, where chants of “save our staff” could be heard echoing around the main lobby.

Many of those involved were Masters students from the Integrative Psychotherapy and Counselling course, where three of the four lecturers are reportedly at risk of redundancy.

Not only does the course provide an education and qualifications for the students, but it also puts them out in the field to carry out therapy in the community.

Jonathan Ainslie, who helped organise the protest, said: “Without those people (our lecturers), I feel like we're going to get a lower standard of education and all sorts of other personal repercussions.

“As a therapist, my lecturer is also my supervisor, which means they supervise all the clinical work we do in the community, basically for free. Between the 218 therapist students on this course, there are over 65,000 hours of therapy which go on in Derbyshire, basically for free.