The proposal made public last week by Strathclyde University to close its degree programme in community education is against the interests of all Scottish citizens (TESS, 13 May). It is particularly deplorable from the perspective of people in some of Scotland’s most disadvantaged neighbourhoods and communities.

Community educators in local authorities’ service and in a wide variety of voluntary-sector settings work with young people and adults to improve the quality of individual and collective life, on such diverse fronts as crime prevention and community safety, health improvement, employability, literacies and community development.

Strathclyde University’s highly-regarded degree programme has a history going back 50 years and graduates work in some of the most deprived communities in Scotland. We hope the university authorities will reconsider this proposal and continue to provide this socially important degree programme.

Dr Jim Crowther, Alan Ducklin, Dr Akwugo Emejulu, Dr Ian Fyfe, Vernon Galloway, Dr Ken McCulloch, Mae Shaw and Professor Lyn Tett, Institute for Community, Education and Society, Moray House School of Education, Edinburgh University.