Battle plan for action against Browne review

A historic attack on students

The Browne Review, which was expected to raise the cap on tuition fees has gone even further than many realised – completely abolishing the cap altogether.

Whilst it is not yet law, cabinet ministers including Lib Dem Vince Cable have said they agree with the findings of the report and intend to implement it. They will likely reproduce it in some form in the Comprehensive Spending Review with a view to the bill coming into being in the next budget.

This is in direct contradiction to their key manifesto pledge, to abolish tuition fees. It even contradicts their plans for a ‘graduate tax’, which they supported after the election. Most even signed a special NUS pledge to say they would vote against any rise in fees.

Some Lib Dems MPs have said they will rebel against their party whips – the sell-out will also anger party members. The rise in tuition fees will leave weak points exposed in the Lib Dems and therefore the coalition. The Lib Dems are therefore a key target for protest, actions etc. This is also a likely reason why the review was announced in secret and released well after its completion.

We will protest at the Lib Dem HQ in Westminster at 4pm on Oct 25.

Killing universal education

The review is an historic attack on education in several ways:
It will make higher education simply unaffordable for huge numbers of working class, and lower-middle class people.

It will create a market between universities – some will charge extortionate fees and become playgrounds for the rich. The others left behind will become increasingly badly funded, vocationally based, or will close.

As such this is also a huge attack on the idea of learning for the sake of learning and expanding working class culture. University will become a place where the ‘haves’ study to get well-paid jobs in finance and business related degrees.

Subjects such as art, philosophy and politics – the humanities – will become increasingly drained of resources as students scramble to find courses that can realistically provide them with a job that will pay off a debt worth tens of thousands.

Fightback

The Browne review will have angered millions of students – those already concerned about debt at the universities – and those in FE colleges and school who want to go to university. It will also further radicalise intellectual and university teachers concerned about the wider damage to education and culture.

In this environment, a mass movement can take place – so the action we now take has to be swift and radical. Thankfully, there are already key actions organised nationally and in London, which can draw in huge numbers of students.

October 20

The march against the Comprehensive Spending Review. A student march will take place at 4pm, from ULU. We should argue for meet up points at every university in London take friends and political contacts to ULU from there.

We will use the demonstration as an opportunity to advertise the “free education” bloc on the demonstration on 10 November. Halls canvassing and stalls should be organised next week to build for the Comprehensive Spending Review demo.

November 10

This is the big joint NUS and UCU demonstration. Again feeder marches should be organised. In the run up to the demonstration we will organise postering in key areas of London, advertising the “free education” meet-up point.

We will also build this demonstration with canvassing and leaftings, and we should fight for local anti-cuts groups to support the “free education” bloc.

Walkout!

We will call a national walk-out and protest that can be publicised on both the 20 Oct and the NUS free education bloc on 10 Nov. A good date for this would be in the last weeks of November.

The NCAFC will organise regional meetings through which the walkout can be organised, drawing in as many students as possible – we will put particular emphasis on school on college students who will suffer worse from Browne’s review. University students where possible should ‘adopt’ a school or college to build for the walkout.

Centinaia di studenti a stazione Termini: flashmob in stazione «L'Università è su un binario morto»

Roma, stazione Termini, ore 12.00. In mezzo a migliaia di viaggiatori, si sente un fischio e una voce metallica da un megafono che dice "Trenitalia informa i signori viaggiatori che il treno dell'Università è su un binario morto". Diverse centinaia di studenti si siedono improvvisamente per terra, bloccando di fatto per alcuni minuti la stazione.

Tutti gli studenti avevano un libro in mano per denunciare i tagli e comunicare nella città e sui media la prossima mobilitazione del 14 ottobre, giornata in cui è stato lanciato l'assedio al Parlamento durante la discussione del Ddl Gelmini. Un lungo applauso dei presenti in stazione ha accolto gli studenti, che si sono poi dileguati tornando nelle facoltà in mobilitazione per continuare l'agitazione dentro l'Università.Il testo del volantino distribuito durante il flash mob:

Unica destinazione: precarietà. Noi non ci stiamo! Oggi siamo qui perchè vogliamo scegliere tra molteplici destinazioni e l'unico treno su cui vogliamo salire: quello per riprenderci il futuro che vorrebbero sottrarci. Alla coppia Tremonti-Gelmini che, smantellando scuola, università, ricerca pubblica e diritto allo studio, vorrebbe vederci andar via con una valigia, rispondiamo che rimaniamo qui, con i nostri libri, il nostro dissenso e i nostri desideri.

Next stop: Giovedì 14, facciamo sentire la nostra voce assediando Montecitorio durante la discussione del DdlGelmini per impedire l’approvazione della legge!

The bonfire of the Universities

• Bologna's blind alley: Eurozine editorial


• European university reform: ten propositions in search of an answer, by Ioana Bot


• The Bologna paradox: on the contradictions in the implementation of the Bologna Criteria, by Marion von Osten


• National debates about Bologna: in Germany, Austria, Romania, Russia, Lithuania, France 1, France 2, UK and USA.


• Philosophies of education: Multilingualism, by Gesine Schwan; Pluriversity, by Boaventura de Sousa Santos; Equality, by Nina Power; Inequality, by Danny Dorling; Cognitariat, by Christopher Newfield; and the Political, by Boyan Manchev.

Demonstrators protest on cuts to education[@USA]

Students marched, chanted and occupied a part of Doe Library at UC Berkeley on Thursday to protest education cuts that have led to fee increases and planned layoffs.

No arrests were reported as of 6 p.m. Six fire alarms were pulled in at least two campus buildings around the time of an 11:30 a.m. walkout and after a noon rally at Sproul Plaza near Bancroft and Telegraph avenues. Some of the protesters went through Dwinelle and Wheeler halls and around the campus to knock on doors and drum up support, carrying signs with slogans such as "education is a right" and "$$$ for jobs and education".

By the time the noon rally began, Sproul Plaza was full, with as many as 1,000 demonstrators gathered to listen to speakers. A subsequent march around campus ended at Doe Library, where about 400 people took part in the sit-in at the library's North Reading Room, according to UC Berkeley spokeswoman Janet Gilmore.

Alameda County sheriff's deputies and UC Berkeley police locked entrances to the library for about an hour to prevent more people from entering. Later, authorities backed off and let people come and go but police monitored the activity inside the building.

Some students pounded desks while others chanted "Whose University? Our University!"

Students from Laney College also joined the protest inside the library and some stood on desks waiting for a response from UC Berkeley Chancellor Robert Birgeneau. Campus officials said the library had reached capacity.

Continue to read this newstext...Protesters hung a large banner saying "October 7 Day of Action Walkout" out of one of the reading room's windows. Many other banners were hung inside.

Students at other campuses around California also planned rallies.

At UC Santa Cruz, students dressed as zombies and "radical" cheerleaders to round up support for their gathering. According to campus police there, about 250 people showed up to chant, wave signs and listen to student leaders, politicians and faculty speeches.

The protests came on the same day California legislators began voting on a state budget that would increase higher-education funding.

Sponsors of the Day of Action included the American Association of University Professors, the Associated Students of the University of California and the UC Student Association.

Canadian Student Loan Crisis

What’s the story behind the Canadian $2-billion loan crisis?

Most of you will have noticed the news stories from a couple of weeks ago about regulatory changes to the Canada Student Loans Program (CSLP). To recap briefly, the law limits outstanding student loans to $15-billion; apparently, outstanding loans snuck up on this limit without anyone noticing, thus requiring the government to draft some emergency re-definitions of what "outstanding loans" meant in order to get through the fall without breaking the law.

There was clearly much more to that story than anyone in Government is letting on; what data is available publicly suggests that CSLP was somehow off by a full $2-billion in its calculations of outstanding debt (via the CSLP Actuarial Report). Stereotypes about impecunious public servants aside, nobody just loses $2-billion.

One possibility is that there was a misunderstanding between HRDC's legal department and Treasury Board's and that CSLP has been counting the loans to a different standard for years. Another possibility is that there has been a truly shocking shift in the student loan portfolio: big drops in repayment due to graduates not earning enough to repay their loans combined with big increases in the client base because students can't earn enough in the summer and part-time work. The least likely - but not entirely impossible - explanation is that someone made a Grade A mistake and plugged in the wrong numbers into a spreadsheet. In the absence of any hard information (the first data on the CSLP tends to come about 6 months after the end of a given loan year, meaning at the earliest, we'll have data on what happened this fall some time around March, 2012), my guess is that it was some combination of the above.

I doubt very much the Government will be very forthcoming with a public explanation for what happened. But the story can't stay contained forever; clearly, the legislation will shortly need to be amended to allow the Government to but the $15-billion mark. When that happens, inquisitive MPs from both sides of the aisle should ask for a clearer explanation of how the Government of Canada came within a couple of weeks of being legally unable to hand out student loans. It's a story that needs to be told.

Students protest education in Argentine capital

Thousands of young Argentines marched to the presidential palace on Thursday to protest the quality of public education, joining a student rebellion that accuses politicians of neglecting schools and universities that were once the envy of Latin America.

High schoolers have occupied about 30 public schools in Buenos Aires to protest their deteriorating conditions. The takeovers later spread to public universities, with students occupying a half dozen, this week, teachers joined the rebellion, putting 700,000 students out of school.

Students carrying a giant model of a pencil on their shoulders like a coffin and crosses symbolizing the death of public education on Thursday marched from Argentina's Congress to the presidential palace. They cite abysmal conditions in schools, including a lack of heating gas, poor electrical systems, leaky ceilings and broken windows, among other problems.

"For a long time, years, decades, a policy of cutting funding to public education has been carried out and this policy has reached such an extreme that the conditions needed to study almost do not exist," said Itai Hagman, president of the Buenos Aires University Federation.

Early in the 20th century, Argentina had a public education system considered a model for Latin America that assured most citizens access to free schooling. But that system came under fire during Argentina's dictatorship and was later subjected to financing cuts under market-oriented democratic governments.

Thursday's march coincided with the 34th anniversary of the "Night of the Pencils" remembering a group of high school students who were abducted and killed during the 1976-1983 dictatorship.

Continue to read this news...The protesters' ire is directed at conservative Buenos Aires Mayor Mauricio Macri, who handles high school financing, and center-left President Cristina Fernandez, whose government administers public universities.

"Our recent governments have not paid attention to public education. We want that to change," said Agustina Scattolini, 20, who is one of the students occupying a Buenos Aires high school for almost two weeks.

Buenos Aires' Education Ministry says that only 100 of the city's 1,200 schools have budget problems and that its education budget for 2010 is the highest in the last eight years. The federal government says it spends 6.45 percent of GDP on public education, one of the highest figures in recent decades. In both cases, however, most of the money is spent on teacher salaries and not on infrastructure.

"Unfortunately we have been very patient over the years, but out patience is over. We want practical solutions," said Hagman.

Student occupations in Argentina

Students in Buenos Aires have taken to the streets in protest against the appalling conditions to be found in many of the city’s schools. A lack of heating in the cold winter just coming to an end has brought to a head a state of neglect which has been building up for several years. In the inimitable style of Argentine tradition, there have not only been occupations of at one point as many as forty of the city’s secondary schools, but classes have been taking place in the street. The protests have been going on for a month, and have now been been joined by university students belonging to several faculties where buildings are in similarly bad condition.

This was not what I was expecting to find when I arrived in Buenos Aires to give a talk about teaching documentary at an event promoted by the Ministry of Education and intended primarily as a showcase for creative practices in the universities. I was also supposed to be speaking at the University of Buenos Aires, which was cancelled when Social Sciences, the faculty where this was due to take place, was occupied when a window fell on one of the students. So instead I go to film the occupation, and the demonstration being mounted outside the Ministry of Education. Here’s the result.

Occupations by secondary school and university students in Buenos Aires, September 2010. A video by Michael Chanan.

Student Loans, Gateway Drug to Debt Slavery

One of the most important lessons students learn in college is how to get into debt and stay there. It's crucial to the success of the Republic. An indebted population is easier to control; needing to pay off crushing debt - a debt that if defaulted on has been stripped of many normal consumer protections and rights - graduates more willingly shuttle into cubicles, becoming the square pegs demanded by the square holes. After a few futile years of floundering idealism, their souls have been successfully jackbooted into powder and they're ready to keep the thumb on the next generation of would-be drones so as to protect their empire of matchsticks. But how did we get here? This chunky infographic examines the origins and (d)evolution of the student loan leviathan.

Government of Canada expects student loan debt to surpass $15 billion this month

The total value of student loans owed to the federal government will surpass $15 billion this September, according to a regulatory change filed by Diane Finley, the Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development (HRSDC).

"Student debt has reached epidemic proportions", said David Molenhuis, National Chairperson of the Canadian Federation of Students. "Instead of investing funds to make education more affordable and reduce the record levels of student debt, the government is attempting to quietly sweep it under the rug".

On August 20, the Governor General approved a request by the Minister of HRSDC to change the method of calculating the amount of outstanding student loans. To justify the issue the Minister wrote, "As currently calculated, the legislated ceiling of $15 billion in outstanding student loans, as specified in section 13 of the Canada Student Financial Assistance Act, is expected to be reached in September 2010".

"Record high tuition fees have left today's students graduating deeper into debt than any previous generation", added Molenhuis. "Addressing Canada's student debt crisis requires a national strategy to reduce tuition fees, not an administrative change to hide the level of student debt".

The Canadian Federation of Students is Canada's largest student organisation, uniting more that one-half million students in all ten provinces. The Canadian Federation of Students and its predecessor organisations have represented students in Canada since 1927.

Chittagong University on indefinite Strike

On [last] Monday, July 26th, students at the public Chittagong University protested (simultaneously with students in Dhaka) against tuition fee hikes.The students called for an indefinite strike to begin the next day and thousands of students have continued to participate since then.

Student Labour: Demo and protests in Slovenia

Several thousand Slovenian students took the streets of Ljubljana and voiced their opposition to the “little labour” act. After several rounds of talks, the heads of the student organization ŠOU and Prime Minister Borut Pahor did not come to any acceptable solution regarding a legislative proposal that both limits students’ ability to work during their studies and places a maximum wage on their earnings.

Approximately 8,000 university and high school students from all over the country gathered on the morning of Wednesday, 19th May in the centre of Ljubljana to protest a new bill that would limit students’ work and thus their income during their studies.

While students are ones most loudly protesting the bill, the proposed change in the law applies not only to them, but also to pensioners, the unemployed and other “inactive” people. The measure is a part of a wider campaign, implemented by the government, in order to make the country more competitive.

What worries the students most is the fact that the so-called little labour act foresees the limitation of student work to 720 hours and EUR 6,000 per year. Students are naturally upset, explaining that many hold down jobs during their studies to pay their living costs in the face of dwindling scholarships. According to their leader, Katja Šoba, they have every right to earn their money, as it is often the only way to pay their studies and any kind of limitation would further worsen their financial situation. As she described, the politicians, while young, “... had sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll. We’ll have ‘little labour’ and loans to pay.”

Continuar a ler o artigo...Loss of Control

The student protest, peaceful at first, later turned into a riot, when some of the students, who had gathered initially at Prešeren Square, then marched to the Slovenian Parliament. Despite the presence of hundreds of police officers in riot gear, some protestors began to throw eggs, granite blocks, signposts, even a molotov cocktail at the building, breaking some windows and forcing the parliament to suspend its session. The assembly suffered severe damage, estimated at EUR 27,000. To restrain the angry crowd, the police used pepper spray and arrested 31 rioters, 15 of whom were minors, many under the influence of alcohol.

Minister of Labour, Family and Social Affairs, Ivan Svetlik labelled the violent protest a sad and regrettable event and added that the student organisation would have to accept full responsibility for what happened. In contrast, the organizers distanced themselves from any association with the violence by condemning it. As Šoba explained, she called on the group in front of the parliament to leave when the protest was over, but they were very angry and “difficult to control.”

“A Hotbed” of Irregularities

Why is student labour such a contentious issue? Perhaps the answer lies within the following facts: student jobs in Slovenia are the least taxed of all types of labour, students do not have to contribute to the public pension fund, nor do the employers have to pay for students’ social and health services. Since student workers are much cheaper than fulltime employees, many employers prefer hiring students or even demand to pay to somebody else’s student referrals. At the same time, there is very little paper work to do: everything that a student needs is a so-called student referral (i.e. a proof of student’s status) and he or she can start working immediately.

Since is almost impossible for young graduates to find a job directly after the completion of their studies, many decide to prolong their study and thus continue working via referrals. No wonder that Slovenia is facing a clear trend of prolongation of education: on average, studies last seven years – the second longest in Europe, after Poland. Since student labour is so appealing, many young people enrol in university not to study but to get proof of their student status and therefore be able to enter the student labour market.

The mediators between students and employers are the student employment services. There are approximately 80 such agencies across the country, which are financed from student labour. However, many believe that these agencies are totally unnecessary and that they live off the sweat of the students. According to the most recent data available, more than one million student referrals were issued in 2008 and the students performed 84 million hours of labour. The average annual income per student amounted to EUR 2,700, while gross disbursements came to EUR 340m. From this amount, some EUR 15m went to student organisations while another EUR 15m was divided between student employment services. Despite part of the student job taxation being channelled directly to student organisations (which do in fact support students with many benefits) some individuals have found a way to take advantage of the situation to become incredibly wealthy, the so-called “student barons”.

Every Third Must Work

Although students agree that the student labour market should be better regulated, at the same they time warn the government that every third student must work in order to live. In Slovenia only a quarter of all students receive some kind of scholarship in the average monthly amount of EUR 180, but according to their calculations an average student needs at least EUR 400 monthly for his/her needs. Some students receive state-issued scholarships, allocated on the basis of their financial situation and social status. Organisations and employers also give out scholarships, mostly to sponsor prospective students in their field of work.

Since most Slovenian students do not receive any scholarship, they must finance their years at university with part-time work. Therefore, apart from their everyday student obligations, many work in restaurants, bars and shops. The students do not work for a little extra spending money, the student organization explains, but because they are forced to and they would not do so if they had scholarships. In their eyes, student work is a form of a social corrective for under-privileged students and before the state implements the changes of student work, it will have to change its inadequate and insufficient scholarship policy first.

Minister of Labour Svetlik is convinced that the new Act regulates a number of students’ rights. An individual, for example, who would perform student work would be included in pension and health insurance programs. Moreover, working part time would be included in the working period. He also promised that the government would increase the number of scholarships, while part of the money from student work would be earmarked for the construction of student hostels and different student projects. Students should focus on studies, pointed out Svetlik, while the state should provide education to everyone, he added.
As the protests were organized and advertised using a large budget, one question remains: is it really the students who fear changes, or would the new act only cut the profits of those who take advantage of student jobs – the employers and the student services?

Napoli (Italia): occupata Università Orientale in solidarietà con gli attivisti della Freedom flotilla

Oggi, 1 giugno 2010, abbiamo occupato l'Università Orientale di Napoli per protestare contro il barbaro assalto di Israele al convoglio umanitario Freedom Flotilla. Un'operazione avvenuta in acque internazionali, contro pacifisti disarmati, che ha fatto almeno 9 morti e decine di feriti gravi, e su cui ancora non si sa nulla, visto che Israele non lascia trapelare informazioni, per manipolare i media e l'opinione pubblica internazionale.

Abbiamo occupato l'università perché di fronte all'ennesimo massacro sionista non si può fare finta di nulla, perché oggi è una giornata di lutto e di rabbia. L'abbiamo occupata perché vogliamo ricordare che da 60 anni Israele imprigiona, tortura, nega i diritti essenziali a milioni di palestinesi, trattandoli con disprezzo razzista, e ormai non si fa scrupoli a uccidere chiunque, anche “occidentale”, osi opporsi. Un'escalation che, dopo l'operazione “Piombo Fuso” del gennaio 2009 che fece 1500 vittime, non sembra avere limiti... A

bbiamo occupato l'Università per dare un segnale forte, contro la nostra classe politica che ancora una volta si rivela il più fedele alleato di Israele in Europa: con il governo che riprende le dichiarazioni dei fascisti israeliani e parla di “provocazione dei pacifisti”(!) e l'opposizione come al solito inerte e complice. Una classe politica che non rispecchia per nulla i sentimenti della popolazione, spontaneamente scesa in piazza ieri in venti città diverse per gridare il proprio sdegno, e la propria preoccupazione per i quattro italiani illegittimamente detenuti dallo stato sionista. Come ci ricorda proprio uno storico ebreo, Ilan Pappe, quello che si sta consumando in Palestina è un vero e proprio genocidio. E davanti a un genocidio non dobbiamo restare a guardare, o perderci in sottili distinguo: come nel caso del Sudafrica, la fine dell'apartheid dipende anche da noi.

Facciamo appello a tutti i compagni, agli studenti, alla comunità palestinese, a chiunque senta un fremito di sdegno davanti a quest'ennesimo massacro a continuare la mobilitazione. Occupiamo le università e le strade, raccontiamo ovunque la verità e la sofferenza del popolo palestinese, intensifichiamo la campagna di boicottaggio, disinvestimenti e sanzioni, facciamoci sentire!

L'Università che abbiamo occupato è aperta a chiunque abbia a cuore la causa palestinese, per discutere ed organizzare insieme le iniziative dei prossimi giorni...

Student fined by University over dating website

A student was fined by his University and told his degree could be forfeit after he created a website enabling his peers to exchange flirty messages.

Rich Martell, 21, was forced to pay £300 and take the site down after University College London (UCL) deemed that the website, FitFinder, brought the institution into disrepute.

The site, which allowed UCL students to flirt with each other online, reached five million hits within four weeks of opening and was soon spread to other universities.

Authorities at UCL deemed the website an undesirable distraction from academic work, and representatives of other universities also contacted UCL to complain about the site, The Times reported.

The final-year computer sciences student was told he could put his degree in jeopardy unless he disabled it. He reportedly described the action against him as harsh.

An online petition to reinstate the site had more than 4200 signatures on Sunday night. A message from Mr Martell on the web page said: "We have been placed under increasing pressure to take the website offline by Universities.

"Subsequently we have decided to remove FitFinder BUT we hope this is only temporary. PLEASE PLEASE sign our petition to being fitfinder back online! With your support we can be a nation of fitties once again!"

A University spokesman said: "UCL does not approve of or condone this site. UCL has no jurisdiction over it.

"We have, however, taken disciplinary action against the student for bringing the college into disrepute and he has been fined."

Violent student protests in Slovenia

Slovenian students violently protested against planned Government reforms that would limit their work during studies and thus lower their income.

The protest began in Slovenian capitol Ljubljana's city center where about 15,000 students gathered to protest against the planned Government reforms that would limit the ammount of work they can do alongside their studies. This would further worsen their financial situation on top of the negative stipend politics of Slovenian Government. In the afternoon, they moved in front of Slovenian parliament building where they started throwing stones, eggs, signposts or anything that could be thrown into the parliament building or the police. On several occasions they attacked the police that responded with pepper spray. Eventually, they caused severe damage to the parliament building, many windows were broken, a molotow was thrown in front of the building, about 30 students were arrested.

Student protest in Republic of Macedonia

Today once again students of the Sts. Cyril and Methodius University of Skopje, Republic of Macedonia are protesting demanding (among other things) free/state subsidized higher education, as well as a new way for student organizing consisting of a student parliament based on direct democracy.

We feel that the present structure of the student union (which was recently only renamed to "student parliament" but the people there are the same) works only for the selfish needs of the few people that are in that institution, does not protect and promote the students' rights and does not care about students' needs and problems. On the last elections for student leader, the new leader was elected and according to their statute - he is legitimate, with only 26% (~7800) of all students voted, out of which supposedly around 6000 students voted for him. And the total number of students is 30 000! And they call that legitimate. And the university and the state recognizes him.

Therefore a year ago, as some of you probably know, a group of conscious students arose and formed the independent student movement "Sloboden Indeks" (which is a non-hierarchical movement with no leader or executive board) whose goals are not to replace the student union, but to change the way the present system works by making education available for all classes of citizens regardless of social status, as well as by introducing a new way of student organizing - direct democracy where there are no elections, no student representatives, but where every student is a representative of himself or herself. This way we feel that students will have greater input in solving their problems at their faculties, plus the chance for manipulation by a political party (which is defacto the case with the student union - government controlled) will be minimal if not extinct.

On the question of the Bologna process which was introduced some 6-7 years ago, opinions are divided amongst the activists and students. It did introduce the tuition, yes (before, there were only very small administrative fees) but at *some* faculties the new teaching program contributed to a better quality of education in comparison to the previous system, according to students of those particular faculties. In other faculties on the other hand the problem is that the Bologna process is not fully implemented or respected by the administration and/or professors. So the situation is complicated. While at its core, most of us activists agree with the general statements against it, we decided not to articulate it and be against/for it as is, but instead we will focus on the concrete problems every faculty or student at a particular faculty has.

And in the end I would like to apologize for the lack of communication from our side during this period since the international student day last year. Reason is that the number of committed activists dropped unfortunately and it's very hard especially in a largely apathetic society like Macedonia and in a grassroots movement like Sloboden Indeks to stimulate people to take responsibility by themselves and contribute to the movement without having any personal gain.

Anyway, we are not giving up and we are continuing our global struggle one way or another.

~ One world, one struggle ~

Move it on over: time’s up, students are told

University goes to court to serve protesters with eviction notice.

Middlesex University is applying for a High Court injunction against its own students in a bid to end an occupation sparked by the closure of philosophy courses.
About 50 philosophy students and their supporters occupied the Mansion Building at the university’s Trent Park campus in north London, after it was announced that Middlesex would phase out all undergraduate and postgraduate teaching in the subject.

There are fears that the decision could spell the end for the Centre for Research in Modern European Philosophy, which was Middlesex’s highest-rated department in the 2008 research assessment exercise.

The students first occupied a room on 4 May in protest at the failure of senior university managers to attend a meeting to discuss the course closures. They later extended the occupation throughout the building.

Middlesex threatened the students with an injunction today. When they refused to budge, the University moved ahead with an application in the High Court.

Earlier this year, the University of Sussex issued an injunction preventing students from protesting on campus after an occupation of management offices sparked by its plans for more than 100 redundancies. The Middlesex notice, from law firm Nabarro LLP, states: “Your occupation of the Mansion Building constitutes an unauthorized trespass.

“Our client has sought to deal with this matter amicably but in light of your failure to vacate the building despite our client’s requests, our client has no choice other than to take legal action to secure your removal.

“Our client will apply to the High Court at the Royal Courts of Justice, London, at the earliest opportunity for immediate injunctive relief unless all protesters in occupation of the Mansion Building vacate within one hour and return control of the building to our client (...) Our client must reserve its position in every respect including the issue of the costs of this action.”

In an email to staff, Middlesex’s vice-chancellor, Michael Driscoll, describes the student occupation as “illegal” and says it “raises serious concerns surrounding health and safety, disruption to the working of the University and costs of security”. He adds that students did not respond to the legal notice. “The University is now seeking an emergency injunction to end the occupation and recover the Mansion Building,” he says.

State of Puerto Rico locks students inside UPR

Humanities Action Comitee: To Students and Civilians Worlwide

Just yesterday, May 13th, the students of the Rio Piedras’ campus of University of Puerto Rico ratified the 22 day strike with an evident majority of votes in favor at a General Assembly that was proposed and organized by the institution’s own administration. Today that same administration backed with full government support have intensified and reinforced their represive schemes against the student movement stepping over our constitutional right to protest. We condemn rector Ana Guadalupe’s decision to activate the police forces against us and we reiterate yesterday’s vote demanding her resignation as well as president Jose Ramón De la Torre’s. Since 4am there has been heavy police presence around the campus; different police units have been brought to guard all posible entrances and to restrict access of students and those in solidarity. We wish to publicly alert the national and international media that up until now they have prohibited not only the entrance of civilians, but also and more alarming, the entry of food donations and supplies needed by the hundreds of students that are currently occupying the campus. The students that reside on campus are being forced to move out and are being threatened with the nonrenewal of housing contracts. We also expect water and electricity on campus to be cut off by 1:00pm.

We exhort all students, professors, workers and civilians; every member of every community, to surround the university gates as they have done themselves. We exhort everybody’s presence here today; we need everyone’s solidarity and support if we are to endure this struggle. We want to let the administration know that their attempts to intimidate have been not only represive but exagerated and unnecesary. We will not allow that the democracy the university’s administration proclaims to practice be arbitrary and partial. Those who participated in the General Student’s Assembly yesterday, experienced a real democratic process in action. The assembly is sovereign and in assembly we voted to continue the strike. We are here to defend the right of all puertorican students to a public education and here we will remain until the administration decides to cooperate and negotiate.

We need everyone’s solidarity and support. Ten out of the eleven campuses that make up the UPR system have declared themselves on strike. All are participating of the same struggle. The same struggle being fought all over the World.

United we stand, divided we fall.

Humanities Action Comitee,
University of Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras Campus

Don’t Panic, Organise!

A «Mute» special on Struggle in Education Today

The cuts, lay-offs and tuition-fee hikes that are besetting higher and further education internationally are naturally a direct response to the drama of the financial crisis and its ricocheting bomb of personal, commercial and national debt. But they also have deeper roots. They should be understood as part of the more gradual process of what George Caffentzis, in his analysis of the international situation, calls the ‘breakdown of the edu-deal'; the inability for capital, and therefore the state, to pay for the costs of producing a well educated workforce or to guarantee that investment in education will result in a more vigorous economy and increased living standards for those with qualifications.

This breakdown, and the dogmatism of free market economics which seeks to alleviate it, has seen the imposition of a business rationale onto what previously had been regarded as the provision of a public service, sometimes even a public good. From the investment of endowment funds on the market, to the conversion of students into (badly ripped off) consumers, to the no-frills fixed-term contracts being doled out to staff, to the speculative purchase of the future IP generated by scientific and technical departments, to the intended exchangeability of all qualifications under the Bologna Process, education has been infested by the value form.

With the ground changing this fast under staff and students' feet, the ability for collective action to fight the savage rounds of cuts has itself suffered as a result of a generalised precarity and fragmentation. Despite the hostile conditions, we are nevertheless seeing an intermittent but persistent wave of strikes, actions and occupations, both wildcat and union co-ordinated, breaking out around the world. Other initiatives such as cross-institutional teach-ins, blogs, power-mapping exercises, conferences and demonstrations are also creating a steady hum of background pressure and preparation. All of this begs the question, will it be enough to save any residual quality and equality within education and its institutions? With the state of struggle in education our principal question, Mute has created a mini-dossier of reports, questionnaires and analyses on the education crisis as it unfolds in the UK and beyond.

Bulgarian students protest against subsidies cuts

Hundreds of students and professors protested Tuesday in front of Sofia University against a reduction in state education subsidies, bulgarian media reported.

The protest, in front of the country's oldest university, was staged under the motto "Today's policies kill tomorrow's education." "We are here to show that we care about Bulgaria's higher education," one of the protesters was quoted by local media as saying.

Students and professors warned that Bulgaria's education would "die if there were further cuts in funding" and have asked the government to make education a priority.

Prime Minister Boyko Borisov said that the country had to do some "belt tightening" and that everyone was facing a crisis. "This year will be very difficult for everyone, but we will survive and the next year everything will be back to normal," Borisov told reporters in Sofia. "Europe is in a crisis, people everywhere are reducing salaries and pensions."

The government in Sofia decided last week to cut all government spending by 20 per cent in order to reduce the budget deficit.

European Education Congress

The European Education Congress 2010 in Bochum will be a place for everyone interested in education from all over Europe to gather, network, exchange experiences and ideas and learn about the educational system in context. A focus will be on the theoretical grounding of differing conceptions of education, as well as the functions education and the educational system have in our society.

Education is a precondition for participation in all social interactions. However, in many aspects, the current educational systems are not geared towards enabling an understanding of social interrelations and taking part in the shaping of social changes. But only with everyones participation is it possible for a society which guarantees the broadest level of freedom for all to develop. It is therefore time to analyse the current and possible future
functions of education and its influence on decision-making processes in a society.

The congress is open to all people and depends on their participation. In order to allow for a maximum of interaction, the number of lectures will be kept to a minimum, instead workshops, discussions and other participatory forms of communication will dominate the program. As the division between active contributors and passive visitors exemplifies one of the many problems of current educational systems, participants themselves are encouraged to offer contributions on educational topics of their choice. These might range from giving inputs to a discussion to offering workshops or other activities.

People are encouraged to register their contribution on our website. For a chance of inclusion in the congress guide this has to happen before the 7th of May. All participants are kindly asked to register on our website, in order to help the organisational team with the planning. Participants in need of reimbursements for their travel expenditures should also register
before the 7th of May. Though financial support for everyone cannot be guaranteed, we will try our very best to make it possible for everyone to be able to participate. Congress attendance will be free of charge, there will be free meals and places to sleep will be offered. In order to support the congress, donations are highly appreciated.

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