Education

GMB backs NCAFC demonstration

Another demonstration is being planned against the increase in student tuition fees, with organisers hoping that tens of thousands of people will take part in the protest in the new year. The latest national protest will be on January 29 in central London, following a wave of demonstrations in recent weeks which have led to a number of arrests and controversy over police tactics. The Education Activist Network and the National Campaign Against Cuts & Fees have written to trade unions seeking their support for next year's demo. Officials of the two groups said recent events had shown the...

Hull students occupy

On 13 December students from Hull occupied rooms on the first floor of Staff House on the Hull campus of the University of Hull. This is a peaceful protest against the cuts in education and EMA, job losses and fees. The occupiers demand that no students or staff are singled out or victimised for assisting or taking part in the occupation. They call on the University to allow free movement in and out of the occupation and call on students, staff and supporters to join the occupation. Further statements will be published on the Occupation blog – occupiedhull.wordpress.com . To contact the...

Fees and EMA: organise for the next stages!

The big turnout on the student demonstration on fees and EMA on 9 December shows that this campaign will continue. About 30,000 students and supporters turned out. The demonstration was never able to assemble in one place at one time, so estimates are difficult. Today, Friday 11th, groups like the National Campaign Against Fees and Cuts are meeting to plan the next steps. As on 24 November and 30 November, there was a huge police mobilisation against the demonstration. The police did it "efficiently", in their own terms, which means that they "kettled" thousands of demonstrators in Parliament...

Building the struggle on fees and EMA after 9 December

AWL leaflet for 9 December student demonstration. Click here to download pdf, or read online below Build student-worker unity: keep the movement going! Unions and student activists should call a national demonstration for January Today, 9 December, it is likely that parliament will vote in favour of a massive hike in tuition fees. We cannot accept that as decisive defeat! In 2006 the movement against the CPE law in France, which would have allowed bosses to summarily sack workers under the age of 26, continued after the French parliament passed the legislation and eventually forced its repeal...

These student protests will grow with or without Aaron Porter's support

An average day in the occupation at Newcastle University begins early. First on the agenda of each general meeting are a selection of messages of solidarity. We continue to be inundated with messages from local activists, teachers, parents, school students and academics, offering practical support and sharing advice from previous actions. It was in such a meeting that we heard news of NUS president Aaron Porter's statement of support for the anti-cuts occupations that are ongoing in many of the country's universities and look likely to grow. A ripple of polite applause crept across our lecture...

NUS president makes U-turn to support direct action, and occupations

NUS president Aaron Porter today did a spectacular U-turn apologising for lack of support for students taking part in the national day of action called by National Campaign Against Fees and Cuts on Wednesday. A the "spineless" lack of public support for university occupations around the country. Porter was speaking the occupation at University College London following criticisms of him from occupiers over Twitter. Porter said: "For too long the NUS has perhaps been too cautious and too spineless about being committed to supporting student activism. Perhaps I spent too long over the last few...

24 November: school students lead the way

School, college, and university students took to the streets on 24 November, in a show of protest to make it clear that students are not going to accept this government's attacks. The response to the call for the day of action by National Campaign Against Fees and Cuts has shocked politicians, police and student leaders even more than the size and anger of the National Demonstration on 10 November. Students have made sure that the Royal Wedding didn't force the cuts off the front pages! It is will be hard to find a school, college or workplace not talking about this action in the next days...

The "Plebs" go on strike

As Ruskin students and their contacts amongst former students became aware of the drive by people in the Workers’ Educational Association and University Extension movement to take control of Ruskin, they began to organise themselves against it. During the “strike” that followed the enforced resignation of their principal Dennis Hird, a qualitative change occurred in their strategy, as a result of which 29 of the current students, again supported by former students, threw their energies into creating a new institution, the Central Labour College. From the early days of Ruskin Hall onwards, its...

"We are campaigning for the enrichment of life"

"They say the government is an uncaring government. I don't agree with that. They care all right, they just don't happen to care for our people. They care for their people." In 1995, the leadership of the National Union of Students began their (eventually successful) attempt to drop its support for free education and living student grants, in order to smooth the way for the next Labour government to introduce fees. The Campaign for Free Education was set up to combat this move, mobilising thousands of student activists in the NUS structures, in colleges and universities and on the streets...

The origin of the Plebs League: "The Burning Question of Education"

Achieving control of Ruskin College was central to the WEA/extension project. From the summer of 1907 onwards, its supporters threw themselves into open propaganda, behind-the-scenes lobbying and bureaucratic manoeuvring — all aimed at purging the college of whatever stood in their way. As well as setting up the committee to oversee the writing of Oxford and Working-Class Education, setting out the structure and to some degree the content of study at Ruskin College, the August 1907 Oxford Delegacy/WEA conference also set up an Oxford Tutorial Classes Committee, with Oxford tutor William Temple...

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