Teachers and lecturers have taken to the streets to protest against cutbacks in the further education (FE) sector.
Around 200 members of the Educational Institute of Scotland (EIS) marched through Glasgow city centre to highlight what they see as "deep" cuts to teaching budgets, staffing levels and training opportunities at Scotland's colleges.
They claim that FE colleges are being hit particularly hard by government austerity measures.
Union bosses said the last two years have seen funding cuts of 20% to colleges' teaching budgets, leading to 1,300 fewer FE college staff in the last year. Recent figures also reveal a drop of 42,000 students in colleges "at a time when youth unemployment is at record levels and the need for further education and training has never been higher", the union said.
Speaking at the march, EIS representative Daniel Holland, a maths lecturer at Edinburgh College, said: "We're trying to fight any further cuts. The FE sector is one that needs to grow. We've got rapidly rising unemployment and FE is the one that has to pick up the pieces of that.
"I get the feeling the government are never quite sure what to do with further education. We need to put a stop to any further cuts. (Education Secretary) Mike Russell, in particular, really needs to engage with the further education sector much more."
Mr Holland said working life was becoming increasingly difficult for college lecturers.
"We've seen class sizes increase, we're seeing an increasing number of people go off sick because of the added pressure," he said. "There have been a lot of management positions cut out, which means the workload is cascading downwards for no extra money. I think people are positive about the event today, but the morale in colleges is low at the moment."
Members of the union began their march at Holland Street and headed up Sauchiehall Street, towards Glasgow Royal Concert Hall. They held banners reading, "Save FE, enough is enough", "No cuts", and "Scottish Further Education in Crisis". Police estimated around 200 people took part in the protest march.
The Scottish Government said the college sector is supported by "significant levels of funding", including an additional £17 million in the latest budget.
