Today we are stepping up our campaign against tuition fees and education cuts with the biggest student national demonstration for years. As student debt soars and staff working conditions deteriorate, it is clear that the marketisation of education is failing students and workers alike. Last month Germany scrapped tuition fees – proving once again that free education is possible. If the government increased tax on the rich, scrapped Trident or reduced military spending, billions of pounds would be made available to fund education and other vital public services. Free education is not just about the money. It’s about the working conditions of those who make our education possible, and about democratising and liberating our institutions and the curriculum; funding vocational and further education, living grants and childcare that allows women to freely access learning. A new movement for free education is emerging on campuses across the country. Today’s national demonstration, organised by the Student Assembly Against Austerity, the National Campaign Against Fees and Cuts and the Young Greens, marks the the start of a major wave of action between now and the general election. We are determined to build a movement too big to ignore that puts free, accessible and public education back on the political agenda. - letter in the Guardian supporting todays Student Demo for Free Education, signed by a broad range of student activists, including those from the Labour Party. As Red Labour, we fully support the action and call for our party to commit to the scrapping of tuition fees. theguardian/education/2014/nov/19/students-fight-for-the-right-to-free-education
Posted on: Wed, 19 Nov 2014 08:03:26 +0000