MINISTERS are to meet the family of a college manager who committed suicide at the height of a controversial merger.
Angela Constance, the Education Secretary, has agreed to a meeting after the family called for greater protection for college staff in future mergers.
Francis McGeachie, who was just 44 when he died, was a former faculty director at Coatbridge College.
He committed suicide in December 2013 as the institution was merging with others to form New College Lanarkshire.
His relatives, including widow Anita and brothers the Rev Kenny McGeachie and Dr Bill McGeachie, believe stress at work might have contributed to his death.
"Francis’ death was a tragedy and we want to do all that we can to make sure that no other person suffers what Francis suffered, and no other family suffers what we suffer,” the family said.
The development came as a national survey of colleges by public services union Unison found further education staff were under “extreme pressure” after budget cuts and a series of mergers across the country - instigated by former Education Secretary Michael Russell.
The survey of Unison members found almost two-thirds believe the service has worsened over the last two years, with only 15 per cent saying things have got better.
Staff morale was described as being at “rock bottom” with 78 per cent of those surveyed saying the mood of workers was either “quite negative” or “extremely negative”. Nine out of 10 said the further education sector was underfunded.
Chris Greenshields, chair of Unison’s further education committee, said: “This survey is damning. It’s no surprise that it’s one bad story after another and our sector urgently needs a shot in the arm with additional ring-fenced funding for staff to reverse the decline.”
Iain Gray, Scottish Labour’s opportunity spokesman said the SNP had “decimated” Scotland’s crucial college sector.
He said: “Budgets have been slashed, there are 140,000 fewer students and thousands of staff have lost their jobs. Yet we are told again and again by ministers that everything is fine.
“This damning survey shows that Scotland’s college sector is far from fine after eight years of SNP mismanagement."
Liam McArthur, education spokesman for the Scottish Liberal Democrats, added: “This report does not make for good reading for the SNP Government.
“The SNP’s legacy of college cuts has cast a long shadow over the sector. Part-time places have been slashed and services have been reduced."
A Scottish Government spokeswoman said: "We have seen huge progress on college reform and this Government has pushed for national pay bargaining, to which most colleges are now signed up to.
"Reforms were designed to give a sharper focus on helping young people into jobs and developing the skills our economy needs to grow."
A total of 266 Unison members working at 16 colleges took part in the survey. The report said real-terms funding fell by £53 million between 2011 and 2014, with staff numbers dropping more than nine per cent since 2011/12.
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