University Language Budget Cuts "Very Concerning" - Pringle

4.38.00pm BST (GMT +0100) Sat 6th Jun 2009

Mike Pringle MSP has described news that the University of Edinburgh has decided to cut close to £200 000 pounds from the The School of Literature, Languages and Cultures budget as "very concerning". There are fears that the cuts could lead to affect the range and quality of language teaching provided by the University.

After receiving representations from several students he has now written to Sir Timothy O'Shea, Principle of the University to establish the exact reasoning behind the cuts and seek assurances that language teaching would not suffer as a result.

Mike Pringle said

"Obviously this news is very concerning.

"Scotland should be looking to foster strong relationships abroad, and high quality language teaching must form an integral part of that. I fully intend to establish why these cuts have been made."