Durham Uni regularly employs academic staff on zero hours contracts

‘Disgraceful’ behaviour shamed in new report


Your lecturers and tutors are on non-permanent or hourly paid contracts, but that shiny new physics building on the science site is pretty, isn’t it?

Whilst our Vice Chancellor is on a salary of almost 250k, new statistics from the Higher Education Statistics Agency show that 60.5% of Durham’s teaching and teaching-and-research staff are on either temporary or ‘atypical’ contracts, as reported in the Guardian. 

Durham is not the only University shown to be hiring workers on precarious contracts. In fact, the statistics show that it is the the richest Russell Group institutions that are relying the most on zero-hour and other types of insecure contracts.

The figures suggest that Universities are charging students higher tuition fees to be taught by staff who are more than likely on precarious contracts. Trade unionists have accused vice-chancellors of ‘importing the Sports Direct ’ into British universities.

Furthermore, the National Union of Students is raising the issue that tutors probably feel undervalued and stressed, therefore may not be able to provide an education worth the £9000 tuition fees students are paying.

 

Students at Durham University aren’t happy about it either.

Callum Wilson, a first year Archaeology student said: “For someone who has worked so hard for years to earn their PhD and is so well respected in their field, it’s disgraceful really.”

Nat Kunin, a first year Engineering student said: “It really makes you think about how well your £9000 tuition fees are spent.”