E-University project haemorrhaged £50 million
Ambitious plans to teach degree courses online have been condemned as a “disaster” and a “waste of public money” by a committee of MPs.
The Commons Education Select Committee said the Government’s E-University scheme (UKEU) haemorrhaged tens of millions of pounds after attracting just 900 students since its launch in September 2003.
It was envisaged 5,600 students would study online.
Given the scarcity of interested candidates, the 900 students who did sign up cost £44,000 each, costing more than a student at either Oxford or Cambridge, MPs said.
UKEU, the brainchild of former Education Secretary David Blunkett – was scrapped within six months after it secured less than one per cent of private sector funding.
The Government wanted a fifty-fifty partnership between itself and business.
MPs were furious to find that chief executive John Beaumont was paid a bonus of £44,914 despite the scheme’s collapse.
The bonuses were “wholly unacceptable and morally indefensible”, the committee heard.
Barry Sheerman, chairman of the Labour-dominated committee, said the senior executives failed to interest any private investors and showed an “extraordinary over-confidence…in their ability to attract students.
“Any private company which rewards under-performance of this scale would normally face severe criticism from its shareholders.”
The scheme – which was forecasted to rake in a £110m in profit and attract 250,000 students within a decade – is thought to have wasted some £50 million.
