Globalisation and neoliberalism aren’t about individuals against humanity, it's a comprehensive system which oppresses us universally but situationally. There is more than one form of oppression; it's more diverse now than ever before. Globalisation and neoliberalism are wars against humanity. It's a system which benefits from the exploitation of the social peripheries and the expected apathy of the masses. We need to unite and fight. The momentum is with us because the truth is with us. We know better and so we need to do better. And we are.
November 26th was a national day of action in
association with the National Campaign Against Fees and Cuts. Students at the University of Bath and Bath
Spa University were two universities from across the country to host student
occupations designed to raise awareness, engage students and lecturers, and
start discussions and debates about the principle of Free Education, the
Conservative government’s announcements in the Green Paper to further privatise
and continue the marketisation the Higher Education system (because it’s
obviously an inefficient national industry), and the PREVENT policy on
terrorism and radicalisation.
The occupations were about trying to raise awareness and
increase involvement and student activism, highlighting how politics and
policy-making undertaken by our country’s decision-making boards and our
government affect everyone, and increasingly students. We wanted to show how our voice has power to
catch people’s attention. We can have a
say, we have a voice, and we can be heard as long as we are united in our collective
actions.
Many were unaware of the Tory Green Paper, published on
November 6th, just two days after thousands of students took to the
streets of London to demand free education.
The main proposals in the Green Paper include:
·
Student loans rising with inflation, which means
that all students are likely to pay back their loans when earning under the
current £21,000 boundary
·
The decision for increasing fees will be at the
whim of the Secretary of State for Business, rather than being passed through a
vote in Parliament
·
Universities will no longer be subject to the
Freedom of Information Act, meaning there is less clarity about what
universities are doing
·
The Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF) will be
linked to graduate earnings, meaning degrees that produce low earning graduates
will be funded less
The November 2015 spending review, as announced by George
Osborne, also affects students. The
government has frozen the repayment threshold.
The Department for Business and Innovation Skills said that, “to reduce government debt, the student loan
repayment threshold for plan two (students who took loans out from 2012
onwards) borrowers will be frozen until April 2021”. Previously, the threshold for student loan
repayments was meant to rise with increased earnings, starting at £21,000. The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS)
estimates the retrospective freezing of the threshold at earnings of
£21,000 would mean an average graduate would pay back about £3,000 extra. Meanwhile, disadvantaged students who had
previously been eligible for support grants (which have been scrapped under our
current government) would be even worse off.
Moreover, the IFS noted that those earning close to median incomes for graduates (around
£16,000) would pay back an extra £6,000.
Moreover, the PREVENT policy (originally introduced in 2011,
but edited and renegotiated many times since) is a government strategy implemented
in schools and universities across the country in an attempt to curb
radicalisation, extremism, and the rise of those associated with terrorist
organisations. However, it is
fundamentally flawed. It is a
stigmatising and xenophobic piece of legislation, which disproportionately seeks
out Muslim students and those from African and Middle-Eastern backgrounds,
implying that groups such as Al-Qaeda are infiltrating and imposing their
values on the majority of individuals from these social groups. It is a strategy which has succeeded in
turning every Muslim student into a suspect.
Clearly the government is attacking students disproportionately,
treating us as consumers and education as a commodity which can be bought and
sold. Education should not be treated as
an industry which can be reduced to nothing more than another profit-making
business. Students should not have the
concern of leaving Higher Education with a future defined by masses of debt,
which are only set to increase if these proposals are passed. The government is also attempting to
stigmatise and attack specific student populations in the name of ‘national
security’, whilst ignoring the social and political repercussions of such
attitudes and policies. Students should
not be discriminated against because of their religious or ethnic backgrounds. We should not be treated as a threat to
security for holding values different to the mainstream narrative.
Therefore, we have a duty, a responsibility, to actively
oppose the proposals. We need to engage,
stir up discussion and take direct-action against the Green Paper, the spending
review and PREVENT policies.
We need to talk about systems of oppression and
not just where power is located. We need
to unite in our struggle against the rampage of neoliberal policies. Our government and those involved in
policy-making decisions need to be held responsible and realise their
culpability. This is why, on November 26th,
students across the country took direct occupation. Here in Bath we occupied busy campus
spaces. We disrupted the imposed order
and demanded we were listened to. And it
was a success. We have more support than
before, and we have raised the knowledge and profile of these issues. We made local and national coverage of the
events. We got people talking. And, for now, that is a positive start. Now we must continue.
If you are interested, more details can be found
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