Stop the move of HE Manchester College students to Openshaw

This online petition has been created with the purpose of supporting our argument to reverse the decision to move all higher education students currently attending the manchester college campus on Quay Street to the campus on Openshaw.

This is a move that could affect HE students ability the pursue their education for a number of reasons:

1- many students chose the manchester college due to the position of the Quay Street campus and have moved house, worked out financial budgets and started careers to compliment the location of the college. A move could reverse the hard work put in by students to settle into their education and build a life for themselves.

2- additional transportation costs could affect the ability of students to attend lessons as some already travel great distances on several forms of transport to attend the centre. This could result in students being unable to pursue their education.

3- the area of Openshaw itself is infamous for attracting gang crime, anti social behaviour and gun crime. Last week a woman was reported to have been set on fire in Openshaw and as a result has suffered 70% burns. Is this a place we want to be pursuing our education? 

4- the manchester college higher education courses allow us access to MMU facilities. The movement of our centre would create access barriers as far as transport and time to get there are concerned. Although the facilities will remain available to us, ease of access will be affected for students having to travel to get there, whereas at the Quay Street campus MMU is a 10 minute walk away.

5- many students attending the manchester college have dietary requirements that are not catered for by the onsite canteens therefore they rely on the surrounding business to provide them with food that will not be detrimental to their health. A move to Openshaw would also remove ease of access to these food facilities for those with special dietary requirements.

6- students have only just been informed that this move is definite therefore those unable to pursue their next year by attending the Openshaw campus will be met with several issues surrounding what to do next. This includes the fact that any applications for next year to other educational centres will be considered late and that those on their first year course will have no choice but to start their degrees again which will result in the accumulation of additional costs, a wasted year both financially and educationally and even, in extreme cases, penalise students abilities to follow their dreams and achieve the career that they desire.

7-the Quay street campus is city centre based, therefore in year two when we're doing work based learning, if we did move to Openshaw, we would be removed from the centre of business and placed at a location where there are barely any. This will affect our ability to research and resource what we need for our course.

Long story short this move can and will affect lives and is effectively a breach of contract by the manchester college. If you go on holiday for two weeks, you don't expect to be moved to a different branch of the hotel midway through and if you were, you would expect something much better or your money back. This is no different. 

The manchester college is a business like any other and we are their customers, we pay for this and I for one feel I'm being short changed and forced into a corner where my education and future is at stake. Let's stand up together and get this decision reversed, or we will have no choice but to take further action.

Infuriatingly, it has also recently been discovered that The Manchester College OFFICIAL prospectus for 2016 is advertising wrongly to potential students that they will have a place at the city centre campus on HE Business courses. The imagery on the prospectus is also extremely misleading as it shows pictures of the city centre. This is misadvertisement and could affect future students ability to pursue their education.