TEACHERS could strike over potential job losses at a Hampshire college.

Education unions say they will rule nothing out as they fight restructuring plans at Totton College which have put up to 39 jobs at risk of going or changing.

As previously reported by the Daily Echo, a consultation was launched at the college, informing staff of the changes that could result in redundancies.

It comes after social justice charity Nacro merged with the college in December after it was revealed the college was in significant debt. Since then college bosses have been reviewing how the organisation operates.

It is the latest controversial announcement from the college after it announced it would scrap its A-level curriculum last summer amid the financial crisis which led to students staging a protest.

Now the National Union of Teachers (NUT) say although it is early days, balloting staff over strikes could be an option as they use all means possible oppose the job cuts and changes.

The NUT's south east regional secretary Paddy Marshall said: "Clearly we're extremely concerned about any proposals that result in possible redundancies. The National Union of Teachers will use all means possible to oppose compulsory redundancies. Of course we will enter into meetings with the employer to seek to avoid redundancies where possible.

"Our concerns are both for our members that could be affected but also for quality of provision for the young people studying at Totton both now and in the future.

"Like all sixth forms and colleges, they have had difficulties caused by significant underfunding. They provide excellent provision for young people but they have faced significant cuts over the years and I think Totton has had difficulties recruiting the number of students which could offset these issues.

"The solution to any issue is not to reduce the quality or breadth of the provision because clearly they need to be offering a full range of qualifications to the young people they hope to recruit.

"We're not ruling out anything at the current stage. It's early days but we're willing to use all means possible to avoid possible redundancies."

Totton College’s Interim Principal Mark Sellis told the Daily Echo: “We have to make sure the college is ready to meet the challenges of the future. Change is therefore inevitable – difficult as that is for all of us here – and we now await the outcome of the consultation to see how far-reaching that change will be.

“Staff whose jobs are considered at risk have been informed. This is a very difficult time for these staff in particular but also for everyone at Totton College who has worked tirelessly and with great professionalism over the years.”

There are 39 employees potentially affected by the proposed restructure which equates to 30.21 Full Time Equivalent (FTE). However, for some of the posts only a reduction in FTE is proposed; also, some new posts (14 FTE) are likely to be created part of the restructure.

The consultation runs for 30 days from 20 January during which time there will be meetings with individual staff and with faculties to discuss potential impact, as well as with staff representatives such as trade unions. Bosses plan to report back to staff on the outcome of the consultation shortly after it concludes.