Education Not For Sale
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The end of the National Union of Students? A report on NUS Extraordinary Conference
Posted on November 13, 2008Filed Under News
By Daniel Randall, University of Sheffield delegateThis is a provisional report; a selection of more comprehensive reports will appear on this site soon.The NUS leadership and its supporters will undoubtedly crow that their proposed new constitution was passed overwhelmingly (614 to 142) by the 12 November Extraordinary Conference in Wolverhampton. But when one considers both the fact that this was a term-time, weekday conference called without a requirement for cross-campus ballots pick elect delegates; and the amount of financial and human resources they had at their disposal to push their propaganda (including emailing all conference delegate with a pro-constitution rant by National Treasurer Dave Lewis - apparently done “in error”), it is hardly surprising that the activist left wasn’t able to mobilise equivalent numbers. Read more
No to the Governance Review! For grass-roots reform of NUS, no to a second Extraordinary Conference!
Posted on November 12, 2008Filed Under News, Uncategorized
Education Not for Sale’s leaflet to the NUS Extraordinary Conference (Wednesday 12 2008). Read more
Open planning meeting for a national demonstration, 15 November
Posted on November 6, 2008Filed Under News
Read more
Police violence against LSE students protesting for human rights
Posted on November 5, 2008Filed Under News
From student activists at the London School of Economics Police have used unlawful violence to prevent a student demonstration at the London School of Economics.Students gathered outside the opening of the New Academic Building by the Queen to protest against the naming of a lecture theatre after Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, the dead dictator of the UAE. When the group dropped a banner reading “No more Dirty Money at LSE” a policeman approached the group and, without warning, kneed a student in the testicles and punched him on the side of the head twice. Read more
Emergency demonstration against grant cuts and cuts in student numbers
Posted on November 4, 2008Filed Under News
Called by the Another Education is Possible conference and supported by Education Not for SaleEmergency Demonstration - 3pm on Friday the 14th of NovemberAssemble outside Westminster Cathedral, Victoria Street (5 minutes from Victoria station)Tax the rich to fund…FREE EDUCATION & LIVING GRANTS FOR ALL* £200 million “missing” from the governments budget for higher education* Billions in bail outs for the bankersWe have seen year-on-year attacks on our right for an education. The latest are cuts to thousands of student grants after a £200 million short-fall from the Department of Innovation, Universities and Skills. This comes only a few weeks after the government promised to bail out bankers with billions of tax payer’s money.If you would like to take part with ENS email education.not.for.sale@gmail.com
Another Education is Possible conference: SWP firmly in control
Posted on November 2, 2008Filed Under News
By Gemma Short, NUS Women’s CommitteeIf you would like to post an alternative report of the conference, or a comment on this, email it to education.not.for.sale@gmail.com and we will publish it.About 150 activists attended the Another Education is Possible conference at SOAS on 1 November (there were slightly over a hundred in both the opening and closing plenaries). This very reasonable turn out reflected the hopes for left unity that a layer of student activists had invested in the conference. Indeed the event was attended by members of a wide variety of different student left groups; but the SWP, the organisation that initiated it and played the main role in its organisation, remained firmly and predictably in control. Read more
While New Labour cuts grants and student numbers, Irish students show how to fight back! Join the call for a national demo
Posted on October 29, 2008Filed Under News
On Wednesday 29 October, the Government confirmed to the Guardian that it plans to slash eligibility for student grants, and cut student numbers by up to 10,000. For the details, see the Guardian article here.Higher education minister John Denham denies that this has anything to do with the economic crisis, but it is a clear indication of how New Labour plans to cut back as things get tight. Its shows how we need to take social wealth out of the hands of the bankers and capitalists so it can be used for social need. That goal is a long way off; but we begin now by fiercely resisting every cut, and demanding what students need.On 22 October, Irish students brought Dublin to a standstill when 10,000 demonstrated against increased university registration charges, budget cuts and threats to reintroduce tuition fees - see here. As a proportion of the membership of the Union of Students in Ireland, this is equivalent to 200,000 in Britain; in stark contrast to the Blairite-led NUS’s total passivity in the face of New Labour attacks.ENS’s call for a national demonstration early next year, which is gaining support across the country, is more important than ever. Please add your or your organisation’s name, and get involved. See below for more details. Read more
ENS activist meetings, Friday 31 October and Saturday 1 November
Posted on October 29, 2008Filed Under News, Uncategorized
ENS activists will be caucusing on the evening of Friday 31 October, after the anti-capitalist demonstration in the City of London and in advance of Saturday’s “Another Education is Possible” conference the next day. We will also be caucusing at the conference itself.8pm, Friday 31 October, the Anchor Tap pub, Horsleydown Lane, SE1 2LN, near to Tower Hill, London Bridge and Bermondsey stations. For a map see, here.Another Education is Possible is from 11am till 5pm, Saturday 1 November, at SOAS, near Russell Square. See http://www.anothereducationispossible.org.ukCome along to discuss the conference, the recent announcement that the government plans to cut grants and limit student numbers, and our call for a national demonstration. For more information or to meet us on Saturday, email Daniel at skillz_999@hotmail.com or ring 07961 040 618
Class(room) struggle: workers fight back at Nottingham Trent and Sussex
Posted on October 3, 2008Filed Under News
On 6 October, lecturers at Nottingham Trent University and their supporters will rally in protest at management’s decision to terminate the recognition agreement with their union, UCU. Below is the national UCU call in support of the rally. Meanwhile, management at Sussex University are attempting to cut the pensions of university support workers organised by Unite - leading to a strike on Friday 10 October. Sussex Education Not for Sale is actively supporting this struggle; below is the text of their leaflet distributed at Sussex freshers’ fair.As our institutions become closer and closer to fully-fledged capitalist businesses, battles like these will become more and more common and increasingly sharp, making the need for unity in struggle between students and workers on campus even more urgent. Read more
Is the fight for free education worth it? A debate
Posted on September 28, 2008Filed Under News
NO (!): Wes Streeting, NUS PresidentYES: Aled Dilwyn Fisher, LSESU General Secretary and ENSA meeting for SOAS students, hosted by SOAS student union4pm, Wednesday 15 October, in the JCR, School of Oriental and African Studies, Russell Square, LondonFor more information email education.not.for.sale@gmail.com
Leaders of Iranian student left speak in London, Monday 29 September
Posted on September 25, 2008Filed Under News
Behrooz Karimizadeh and Kaveh Abbasian hold a Press Conference in London Read more
International day of action for “emancipating education”, 5 November 2008
Posted on September 19, 2008Filed Under News
An international day of action against the commercialisation of education is being held on 5 November, with participation by students in many countries.For the international website with more details, see www.emancipating-education-for-all.orgFor the Facebook group to plan actions in the UK, see here
Call for a national demonstration against top-up fees and for living grants, spring 2009
Posted on September 17, 2008Filed Under News
Please support this statement and get involved in organising the demonstration.For the Facebook group for the demonstration, see here.The statement and list of signatories can now be found here.
NUS Honorary Vice-President faces prison in Iran
Posted on September 7, 2008Filed Under News
Earlier this year, NUS conference elected Iranian socialist student activist Anoosheh Azadbar Honorary Vice-President of NUS. (Anoosheh’s candidacy was organised by supporters of ENS; for more information, see here.) On 4 September, Anoosheh was brought before a court in Iran. Read more
ENS steering committee, Saturday 13 September
Posted on September 6, 2008Filed Under News
Education Not for Sale Steering Committee meeting.1-4pm, Saturday 13 SeptemberLondon School of Economics (a few minutes walk from Holborn tube)Room tbcWe will be discussing issues including organising action against top-up fees; the renewed threat of NUS extraordinary conferences to destroy democracy in our national union; and the proposals that are floating around for a new united left student organisation.All ENS supporters can attend; please feel free to come along to find out more as well. For more information email Aled a.d.fisher@lse.ac.uk
NUS training racism incident: our national union’s political culture is rotten!
Posted on September 3, 2008Filed Under News
The revelation that, at an NUS training event in York last month, one SU officer suggested that more black students at an institution would mean more gun and knife crime and a need for metal detectors, while another held up a sign saying “Bring back slavery”, tells us a lot about NUS’s political culture. Read more
Mobilise for the anti-BNP demo on 16 August!
Posted on July 30, 2008Filed Under News
Between 15 and 17 August, the British National Party will be holding its annual Red, White and Blue “festival” at Codnor-Denby in Derbyshire on land owned by former BNP councillor Alan Warner. For months now, local anti-fascist groups and trade unions have been working to organise a protest on 16 August. ENS is supporting the demonstration. Read more
Aled Dilwyn Fisher’s new blog
Posted on June 20, 2008Filed Under News
For the blog run by ENS steering member and LSESU General Secretary Aled Dilwyn Fisher, see http://aleddilwynfisher.wordpress.com
Hicham Yezza released - keep up the pressure!
Posted on June 20, 2008Filed Under News
Press release from the campaign to stop the deportation of Hicham Yezza. For an earlier report on the campaign, see here. Read more
Students: support the London Underground cleaners!
Posted on June 20, 2008Filed Under News
Most material on the ENS website is, inevitably, student/college/university-focused. However, being socialists 100% committed to support for workers in struggle, we publish coverage of disputes outside the education sector with a fair degree of regularity. And this is an important one. Read more
UEA staff oppose marketisation and fees
Posted on June 20, 2008Filed Under News
UEA Staff Oppose the Marketisation of Higher Education through Variable Tuition Fees11 June 2008 - for immediate releaseThe Assembly of the University of East Anglia staff today sent a clear message to the government that the growing marketisation and increasing student debt has a negative impact on the higher education sector as a whole, especially with the prospect of the “cap” being lifted on home undergraduate tuition fees by the Government looming on the horizon. Read more
Solidarity with students in Iran, 26 July
Posted on June 13, 2008Filed Under News
A meeting to discuss organising campaigning in solidarity with students in Iran2-5pm, Saturday 26 July,School of Oriental and African Studies, London (Euston, Russell Square or Goodge Street tube) Read more
ENS Steering Committee minutes
Posted on June 13, 2008Filed Under News
Below are the minutes of the last ENS Steering Committee meeting. Read more
UEA activists launch free education campaign
Posted on June 6, 2008Filed Under News
SU activists at the University of East Anglia have launched a campaign against the marketisation of education and for free education, counterposing the demand for free education for all to NUS’s “pathetically weak” slogan of “keep the cap”. Read more
Going on strike, attacked by fascists, being deported? Don’t expect any help from NUS
Posted on June 5, 2008Filed Under News
UCU members in FE colleges in London will be striking on Monday 9 June against the 2.5% pay increase - in effect, a pay cut - they have been offered for 2008/09. UCU is also threatening further action across England in the autumn. They will not, however, be receiving support from NUS. Read more
Lecturers call for boycott of Keele
Posted on June 4, 2008Filed Under News
The lecturers’ union UCU is calling for a boycott of Keele University as part of the campaign against management’s attacks on staff. Read more
“Class” struggle in Berlin
Posted on June 3, 2008Filed Under News
By German socialist youth activist Wladek FlakinAbout 8,000 school students left their classes on May 22 and demonstrated through the centre of Berlin to the school administration building. The protest was directed against classes being cancelled, the lack of teachers, and also against Germany’s three-tiered school system which discriminates against the poor and immigrants. Read more
Fascists attack left students in Rome after university occupation: please send solidarity messages
Posted on June 2, 2008Filed Under News
On Monday students at Rome’s La Sapienza university occupied, and stopped Roberto Fiore, leader of the hard line fascist Forza Nuova from addressing a conference. Read more
Manchester Uni elections dispute
Posted on June 2, 2008Filed Under News
Manchester University Student Respect activist Alex Castro was elected to the position of International Students’ Officer but subsequently disqualified. Below we reprint two statements, one from SU Women’s Officer-elect Jennie Killip and one from the “Defend Alex Castro” campaign. Read more
Activist attacked by far right
Posted on June 1, 2008Filed Under News
A supporter of Education Not for Sale in Huddersfield was attacked by the far right on Friday morning on her way to work. She was attacked by three men who pulled her to the ground and kicked her in the ribs, and slashed at her head with a knife. She suffered a fractured rib. The comrade has been campaigning to no-platform the BNP at her campus and has been obviously targeted. They knew her name and route to work. As she was attacked they called her a “Dirty red”, “Lesbo”, and “Britain-hater”. Read more
ENS steering committee
Posted on May 30, 2008Filed Under News
The first meeting of ENS’s new steering committee will take place at the London School of Economics (a few minutes from Holborn tube) at 1pm on Sunday 8 June. Room to be confirmed shortly. The meeting is open to all ENS supporters. A draft agenda will appear here soon. For more information, email Sofie Buckland at volsunga@gmail.comFor the members of the steering committee, see here.
Stop the deportation of Hicham Yezza!
Posted on May 30, 2008Filed Under News
Stop press! Hicham’s deportation has been postponed. Having now been incarcerated for over two weeks, he has been told he will be transported to a fifth detention centre. We need to keep up the campaign. For more information and resources, see http://freehichamyezza.wordpress.comLast week a Nottingham University student, Rizwaan Sabir, and academic, Hicham Yezza, were arrested and held without charge for six days. Their “crime”? Reading and printing off an al Qaeda training manual as part of their academic activities. Now Hicham Yezza faces deportation this Sunday! Read more
Racism on the NUS NEC? Students deserve a full public inquiry!
Posted on May 30, 2008Filed Under News
From Aled Dilwyn Fisher, LSESU General Secretary-elect and ENS steering committeeDear student,Ama Uzowuru, NUS Vice-President for Welfare, recently reported on her official blog that another full-time member of the National Executive Committee (NEC) told her that her name was “too foreign to be mainstream”, and should consequently not feature on promotional materials for the NUS Extra Card.To make matters worse, three other full-time NEC members present apparently did not intervene, and, in Ama’s words, “took the route that we should ‘park the conversation till later’”. Read more
Nottingham students and staff fight against racism and for right to protest
Posted on May 21, 2008Filed Under News
PRESS RELEASENottingham University Students and Staff Express Serious Concerns about Recent Use of the Terrorism Act on Campus and Demand Academic Freedom Read more
“Our school is not for sale!”: Bolton teachers strike against academy plan
Posted on May 20, 2008Filed Under News
Teachers at Withins school in Bolton are leading a campaign against the closure of their school as part of an Academy programme. Below is the latest report on the campaign, from Jason Travis of Bolton NUT. Read more
Climate change and the student movement
Posted on May 20, 2008Filed Under News
A conference for activistsFriday 6-Saturday 7 June (with activist training on the Sunday), BrightonSponsored by University of Sussex SU. With speakers and workshops from groups including Student Climate Project, People and Planet, Liberty, Campaign against Climate Change, Climate Camp, Workers’ Climate Action and many more…£8 including crashpad accommodation.For more information see here.
Southampton students’ blockade for university democracy
Posted on May 19, 2008Filed Under News
From Socialist Students - released at 4.30pm on 15 May 2008.100 Southampton University students have marched through campus and are blockading a university court meeting. Read more
Sheffield University democracy struggle: we win round one
Posted on May 19, 2008Filed Under Inside NUS, News
By Gemma Short, Sheffield UniversityAs you may have heard, five students at Sheffield University were recently put before a student union disciplinary panel for breaking a “mandate” at NUS Annual Conference 2008 to vote for the NUS Governance Review (see “Defend Sheffield University democracy struggle”, here). As explained previously, this “mandate” was at best dubious; imposed on the delegates after they had been elected – often on clear anti-governance review platforms, by a Union Council which is shockingly disengaged from the students it ‘represents’, without a referendum or general meeting and pretty much in secret. Read more
New ENS steering committee; “Where we stand” statement; constitution; and policy
Posted on May 18, 2008Filed Under News
Agreed by Reclaim the Campus conferenceConvenorsSofie Buckland, NUS NECHeather Shaw, Sheffield College“Block of 10″ (in order elected)Aled Dilwyn Fisher, LSEKoos Couvee, Sussex UniversitySamantha Godwin, UCLDaniel Randall, Sheffield UniversityKatherine McMahon, Edinburgh UniversityEd Maltby, Cambridge UniversityTom Wills, Sussex UniversitySham Rajyaguru, UCLVicky Thompson, Manchester UniversityAlex Wood, Aston UniversityENS WomenRachael Ferguson, Greenwich University- For policy passed and rejected by the conference, see here.- For the new “Where we stand” statement, see here.- For the new constitution, see here.
Proposals to Reclaim the Campus conference
Posted on May 12, 2008Filed Under News
Read more
Defend Sheffield University democracy activists!
Posted on May 9, 2008Filed Under News
Five members of Sheffield University SU’s delegation to the 2008 NUS conference face disciplinary action following their refusal to vote in line with a “mandate” imposed on them by their Union’s Council in favour of the NUS Governance Review. Read more
New venue and updated agenda for Reclaim the Campus conference
Posted on May 7, 2008Filed Under News
Reclaim the Campus will now be held 11am-7pm, Saturday 17 May, at Birkbeck College (on Malet Street, London WC1, near Goodge Street, Russell Square and Euston tubes) rather than LSE. For a map see here. See below for the updated agenda, plus the conference statement and list of supporters. Read more
Draft for a new “where we stand” statement for ENS
Posted on May 2, 2008Filed Under News
Proposed by Daniel Randall, Sheffield University. To submit alternative statements or amendments to this one, or comments, email reclaimthecampus@gmail.com and we will put them up. Please try to limit statements to 500 words. Read more
St Helens school students walk out over academy plans
Posted on April 28, 2008Filed Under News
On 17 April, hundreds of students at St Aelreds Catholic Technology College walked out in protest over plans to merge their school with Newton High School and create a £33m Academy.See here for a local press report.
Draft agenda for Reclaim the Campus conference - please circulate and comment!
Posted on April 26, 2008Filed Under News
For the RTC statement and a list of supporters, see here.Draft agenda for Reclaim the Campus conference, Birkbeck College (London), Saturday 17 May 2008This comes out of a planning meeting held at Sussex University on Saturday 25 April. Please circulate and encourage activists who plan to attend to comment. At a time when the NUS leadership are advocating a new emergency conference to destroy NUS democracy, this event could not be more important. Please come, bring a delegation, but also take an active parts in shaping its organisation!1. Please email any suggestions or comments, including for speakers, to reclaimthecampus@gmail.com2. We will be meeting again to discuss further at the “Students of the world, ignite” (about 1968) conference at LSE on Saturday 3 May, around lunchtime. For more information, email.3. The conference will have a session to discuss ongoing organisation - whether that is a strengthened version of Education Not for Sale, or an organisation with a new name. Submissions for a statement of aims/programme and for structure should be submitted by email by 1pm on Friday 16 May. We urge comrades to keep each submission to 500 words. Small amendments will be allowed on the day. We propose electing a committee on the basis of the structure agreed. Read more
Calling for state bans on fascists: like turkeys voting for Christmas?
Posted on April 24, 2008Filed Under News
At this year’s NUS conference, a delegate who supports the Workers Power-influenced youth group Revolution moved a motion from his university, UCL, calling for the government to ban far-right websites such as Redwatch. (We should make it clear that we do not know whether the comrade was acting on behalf of Revolution or not.) Here we print two pieces relevant to this debate. We encourage ENS supporters and others to make further contributions.In the first article, Vicky Thompson, a libertarian communist and anti-fascist activist who was a Manchester University delegate at the conference, explains why she opposed the UCL motion. In the second, Sacha Ismail from SOAS responds to a letter in the 23 April Guardian from the three SWP/Respect councillors in Tower Hamlets which calls for a state ban on the fascistic Islamist group al-Muhajiroun. Read more
Occupation at Manchester: students confront uni bosses and police
Posted on April 23, 2008Filed Under Actions, News
Students at Manchester University have occupied a key campus building following a demonstration organised by the left-led SU. See below for more information and updates. Read more
Victimised UCL Union general secretary reinstated
Posted on April 23, 2008Filed Under News
Sam Godwin, General Secretary of UCL student union, was victimised by the union bureaucracy after a general meeting vote to campaign to kick military recruiters off campus. For ENS’s statement of support at the time, see here. She has now been reinstated. Below is a message from UCL antiwar society with the latest information and an appeal for solidarity. Read more
ENS bulletin for 24 April: “Support our teachers and lecturers!”
Posted on April 23, 2008Filed Under News
On Thursday 24 April, many tens of thousands of teachers (organised in the NUT union) and college lecturers (UCU) will be on strike over pay. They will be joined by civil servants in the Department of Work and Pensions and the Department of Transport (PCS), and by workers in Birmingham City Council (Unison) and the homelessness charity Shelter (TGWU). In all, hundreds of thousands of workers will be on strike.ENS supports these strikes - because, as anti-capitalists, we support all workers in struggle against bosses. And we think it is particularly important for students to link our struggles to those of our teachers and other education workers - including by supporting the NUT and UCU as much as we can. That’s why we’ve produced a special bulletin about why students should support the strikes, which we’d urge activists to download, copy and distribute around their colleges. Please also give copies to your lecturers etc, to stress that students around the country are organising to support them.Download the strike bulletin as an two-sided A5 leaflet here.Download as a one-sided A4 leaflet here.For a list of strike rallies around the country, see here.
Where now for the student movement? Reclaim the Campus conference, LSE, 17 May
Posted on April 13, 2008Filed Under News
After the defeat of the NUS Governance Review, how do we transform our national union?How do we win the fight for free education?A conference for student activists and student union officersSaturday 17 May, London School of Economics Read more
NUS conference elects jailed Iranian student socialist as honorary vice-president
Posted on April 8, 2008Filed Under Inside NUS, International struggles, News
This story is also reported on the blog run by Iran’s Freedom and Equality-Seeking Students: freeirstudent.blogspot.comOn 2 April, NUS national conference voted overwhelmingly to elect Iranian student activist Anoosheh Azaadbar as an Honorary Vice-President. Read more
Kick the military out of education!
Posted on April 6, 2008Filed Under News
According to the Observer, the government is considering plans to militarise British schools by extending the system of “cadet forces”, which currently exists mainly in private schools, throughout the state system. Read more
NUS Governance Review defeated: now the real fight begins!
Posted on April 4, 2008Filed Under Inside NUS, News
On 1 April, the National Union of Students conference in Blackpool narrowly voted to reject the NUS leadership’s “Governance Review”, which would have abolished what little democracy remains in our union and institutionalised its conversion into a pro-government lobbying organisation. Read more
Education Not for Sale NUS conference fringe meeting
Posted on March 30, 2008Filed Under News, Uncategorized
NUS conference fringe meetingReclaim the campus! Fighting the rule of profit in education and society6pm, Wednesday 2 AprilFrom academies and business-dominated FE colleges to top-up fees and corporate-controlled research, the marketisation of Britain’s education system is in full swing. There is widespread opposition to this process, and many campuses have seen direct action against cuts and privatisation.So far, however, we are yet to see the kind of explosive student struggles that have shaken countries including France and Greece, where radical students have linked up with the workers’ movement and taken mass action to win their demands. In part, this is because the NUS leadership has done everything it can to block and undermine such struggles. Their Governance Review is intended precisely to end the possibility of NUS becoming an effective weapon in this fight.We believe that, to be truly effective, the fight against marketisation needs to be part of a fight against capitalism - for an education system and society that put human need before the demands of profit. Come and discuss how we can can make that happen, reclaiming our campuses and transforming our education system as part of the struggle to change the world. Speakers: Aled Dilwyn Fisher (Young Greens and LSESU General Secretary-elect); Heather Shaw (Education Not for Sale); a representative of Sussex Not for Sale - mass campaign against the marketisation of Sussex UniversityChair: Sofie Buckland (NUS NEC)
Debate on University of Manchester SU elections
Posted on March 26, 2008Filed Under News
The recent elections at University of Manchester Students’ Union saw a major shift, with the Respect/SWP-led coalition losing most of its positions. Some of these were won by the right, others by non-Respect left-wingers. As part of encouraging a debate on the way forward for the student left, ENS is publishing a number of different views of what happened at Manchester Uni. Read more
Will NUS conference oppose war and support Iranian students?
Posted on March 17, 2008Filed Under News
On Sunday 16 March, delegates from universities and colleges across the country met for NUS conference “compositing”, the process by which the various motions and amendments submitted to the conference are quite literally chopped up and reconstructed in more manageable units. Among these was a motion from the National Executive Committee, proposed by ENS supporter Sofie Buckland, and a similar one from Sheffield College, proposed by ENS supporter Heather Shaw, which commit NUS to sharply oppose war and sanctions against Iran and organise practical solidarity with students, workers and others fighting to overthrow Iran’s theocratic government from below.Unfortunately, the composited motion, which will be discussed as an amendment under the heading “Global solidarity” in the “Society & Citizenship” debate, will be opposed by some on the left, with a formal speech being requested by Plymouth University. Read more
Near-win for left at NUS Women’s Conference
Posted on March 16, 2008Filed Under ENS Women, News
By Laura Schwartz, NUS Women’s CommitteeThe success of Education Not for Sale ENS Women at this year’s NUS Women’s Conference (13-15 March) in passing radical left-wing policy and mobilising a significant number of conference delegates around socialist feminist politics, is testimony to the hard work of our activists both within NUS and outside it with Feminist Fightback over the last two and a half years.So is the result of the election held at the conference for NUS National Women’s Officer. Read more
Save NUS democracy - for a democratic, campaigning NUS! Vote Heather Shaw for National Secretary
Posted on March 14, 2008Filed Under News
Dear student activist,I’m writing to ask for your support in the upcoming election for NUS National Secretary. Read more
Action to defend Mehdi Kazemi, March 22
Posted on March 12, 2008Filed Under ENS Women, News
On Saturday March 22 at 2pm, Middle East Workers’ Solidarity will be staging a protest opposite Downing Street in defence of Mehdi Kazemi, a gay Iranian asylum seeker who the British government plans to send back to Iran on the grounds that if gay Iranians are “discreet about their sexuality”, they will not get in trouble. Read more
UCL students ban military recruiters; right wing tries to ban SU general secretary… Defend Sam Godwin!
Posted on March 12, 2008Filed Under News
On 5 March, a 300-plus strong general meeting of UCL Union passed a motion proposed by socialist activist Sham Rajyaguru, president of UCL’s Stop the War Society, to ban the Officer Training Corps, University Royal Navy Units, University of London Air Squadron and all other military organisations from freshers’ events and other union-sponsored events, union premises, and student-run media. Now the right of the union has responded by suspending left-wing General Secretary Sam Godwin. Read more
Sussex Uni mutinies over “reforms”
Posted on March 7, 2008Filed Under News
From Sussex Not for Sale, released Thursday 6 March 2007.Sussex University could see the biggest protest in its history tomorrow [Friday 7 March 2007] as students and academics rally against the influence of market forces in the university. Read more
City University activists fight to “take back union”
Posted on February 29, 2008Filed Under News
Left activists at City University are running in their student union elections as part of a campaign to reclaim their union and make it an active, political campaigning organisation. For more information see their website, www.takebackyourunion.com
Sussex “Education Not for Sale” campaign launched
Posted on February 28, 2008Filed Under Actions, News
Students at the University of Sussex have launched an “Education Not for Sale” campaign Read more
Essex University students reclaim their union
Posted on February 20, 2008Filed Under News
Students at Essex University have elected a radical left sabbatical team to run their student union. In the elections last week, four out of five sabbatical positions were won by members of the “Viva Essex” slate - Yousuf Joondan for Vice President Education, Zak Suffee for VP Welfare and Community, Arnold Ma for VP Services and Communications and Abu Sayeed for VP Sports and Societies. Viva Essex’s presidential candidate, Respect and SWP member Dominic Kavakeb, was defeated by only 30 votes, 825 to 855.ENS offers Viva Essex campaigners our congratulations: this is a fantastic example of how rank-and-file activists can build mass support and begin to turn a student union around. More information and reports from Essex shortly.
Motions and amendments to NUS NEC, 21 February
Posted on February 19, 2008Filed Under Inside NUS, News
Motions and amendments to the NUS National Executive Committee meeting on 21 February 2008. Read more
Long Road College anti-Stagecoach campaign
Posted on February 11, 2008Filed Under News
From Sam Wade, NUS rep, Long Road Sixth-Form College Students’ UnionThe Students’ Union at Long Road Sixth-Form College has recently launched a campaign calling for a rate on buses for students of whatever age or type of education, and that the buses in Cambridge be run in a fashion that serves the best interests of the students who rely on them so heavily. Read more
Anoosheh Azaadbar for NUS Honorary VP!
Posted on February 11, 2008Filed Under News
For a PDF of Anoosheh’s manifesto, click here. For the text, see below. For her list of nominators and supporters, see here. Read more
Model amendments for NUS Conference 2008
Posted on February 6, 2008Filed Under News
Please find below ENS’s model amendments for NUS Conference 2008. Read more
Let Flores study! Let the Sukulas stay in Bolton! Against deportations and racism!
Posted on February 6, 2008Filed Under ENS Women, News
Flores Sukula has lived in Bolton for the past seven years, successfully passed courses at Bolton Sixth Form College and secured a place on the Health and Social Care degree course at Manchester Metropolitan University. After completing her degree she wants to go on to train as a midwife. The future looks bright? Unfortunately, it’s not so easy as Flores like thousands of others of young people has been blocked from taking up her place at university because as an asylum seeker (from the Democratic Republic of Congo), with the attendant racist immigration controls, she is being denied access to the course. The university are insisting on treating her as an overseas student and saying that to register for the course she would have to pay fees of around £6000- all without recourse to even so much as a student loan. Read more
Yes, left unity was possible: but it was not ENS that scuppered it; Student Broad Left cheapens anti-racism with libel against ENS
Posted on February 6, 2008Filed Under News, Uncategorized
February 6th 2008By Sofie Buckland, NUS NECGeorge Woods of the Student Broad Left group has issued a statement accusing Education Not for Sale of responsibility for scuppering negotiations for a united left slate at the 2008 NUS conference. It can be read here. (We urge SBL to reciprocate by publishing a link to this reply, but are under no illusions that they will do so.) Read more
Vote Education Not for Sale, for a democratic, campaigning NUS - and continue the Fight for left unity, at NUS Conference and beyond
Posted on February 6, 2008Filed Under News, Uncategorized
February 5th 2008The Education Not for Sale network has nominated four candidates for the full-time positions on NUS National Executive: Read more
Facebook bans union organiser!
Posted on January 26, 2008Filed Under Actions, News
From Eric Lee of LabourStart, the online trade union news-service.In a moment I’m going to ask you to support the most unusual campaign we have ever launched - but first, some background. Read more
Fight for free speech at the University of Nottingham
Posted on January 23, 2008Filed Under Actions, News
Students at Nottingham University are calling a demonstration for 23 February against attempts to quash their rights to protest and organise. One student has been arrested and others banned from the library for failing to ask permission to demonstrate and circulate petitions. Read more
Iranian regime murders student activist: protest to free our comrades!
Posted on January 23, 2008Filed Under International struggles, News
By Sofie Buckland, NUS National ExecutiveIn December last year, several dozen left-wing Iranian students were arrested for organising or taking part in action on 16 Azar (7 December), Iran’s traditional “Student Day” of protest. Since then, many more activists have been arrested in a continuing crackdown, and one of the detained has now been murdered by the police of the Islamist regime. Read more
Free the detained Iranian student activists!
Posted on December 18, 2007Filed Under International struggles, News
Please add your or your organisation’s name to this statement; it will be translated and sent to activists in Iran. Email your name to Daniel at skillz_999@hotmail.comAs education workers and student activists, we condemn the detention of over forty student activists by the Iranian regime since 7 December (16 Azar in the Iranian calendar). This date has been a day of student protest in Iran for many years; it is now a symbol of Iranian students’ struggle against the theocratic-capitalist regime of the Islamic Republic just as it was against the dictatorship of the Shah. Activists were arrested in the run up to the day of action, and following the demonstrations and actions which took place in a number of cities. Many are now reportedly being held in Tehran’s notorious Evin prison and have been subjected to torture. Read more
A call for left unity in NUS
Posted on December 3, 2007Filed Under News
To left groups including Student Respect/Socialist Worker Student Society, Socialist Students, and to unaffiliated activists on the student left in Britain,We are writing to propose the creation of a united left electoral slate to challenge for the leadership of the National Union of Students at the 2008 NUS conference.The domination of NUS and many student unions by Labour Students, “Organised Independents” and other right-wing groups has meant defeat after defeat for the student movement. Now, with its “Governance Review” rewriting the NUS constitution, the NUS leadership is seeking to move the national union even further away from a militant, campaigning policy by breaking up the few remaining democratic channels through which grassroots student activists can become involved in influencing the policy and direction of NUS. Read more
Class(room) struggles: meeting at Sussex Uni
Posted on November 20, 2007Filed Under Actions, News
ENS supporters at the University of Sussex have organised a meeting on “class(room) struggles: education workers within, against and beyond capital”. Read on for more info. Read more
NUS Honorary Vice-President blinded and jailed for five years
Posted on November 8, 2007Filed Under International struggles, News
At last year’s NUS conference in April, Mansour Ossanlou, the president of the Syndicate of Workers of Tehran and Suburbs Vahed Bus Company, was elected by an overwhelming majority as NUS Honorary Vice-President. Now he has been partially blinded and jailed for five years by the Iranian government. The charge? “Propaganda against the system and acting against national security. Read more
Campaign for NUS Democracy launched - get involved!
Posted on November 8, 2007Filed Under Inside NUS, News
On Sunday 4 November, a meeting was held at Birkbeck College in London to launch a united campaign against the attacks on democracy that are part of NUS’s “Governance Review”. Read more
From an ENS supporter in Paris: French students occupy as workers clash with Sarkozy government
Posted on November 7, 2007Filed Under International struggles, News
By Ed Maltby**Stop press! See below for how occupations and other student actions are spreading in Paris**French students are uniting with workers to organise a mass opposition to President Sarkozy's offensive on health, pensions, asylum seekers, the right to strike and education. Read more
The fightback continues
Posted on October 22, 2007Filed Under Actions, Events, News
Around 300 activists attended the second annual Feminist Fightback conference at the University of East London on 20th October (which was initiated by ENS’s autonomous women’s caucus), and around 40 activists attended ENS’s ‘Education For Freedom’ conference which took place the day after. Read more
Postal workers’ dispute: University of Sussex SU passes anti-scab, pro-strike policy
Posted on October 22, 2007Filed Under Actions, News
Further cementing its reputation as one of the leading activist-led, radical SUs in the country, USSU has passed policy condemning the use of students as scab labour in the recent postal dispute. Read more
Sofie Buckland for NUS Women's Officer!
Posted on October 19, 2007Filed Under ENS Women, News
No one needs to tell feminist activists that the fight for women's liberation has not been won. In Britain women make up 70% of recipients of the pathetically low minimum wage, we face cuts and privatization in the public services so many of us rely on, domestic violence and rape aren't taken seriously by a judicial system full of ancient male chauvinist judges and disinterested police, we still have to cast doubt on our own mental health to get an abortion (if our local NHS services can even provide one in time), and we struggle to find high-quality affordable care for our children if we choose to study or to work. Read more
The struggle for the future of NUS
Posted on September 11, 2007Filed Under Inside NUS, News
In June 2007, the NUS leadership produced a “Green Paper” on “Governance Review”, taking its mandate from an interpretation of policy passed at annual conferences. A summary of the paper is available here. Read on for ENS’s response, including appendices on NUS finances and its culture of waste. Read more
The end of the National Union of Students? A report on NUS Extraordinary Conference No to the Governance Review! For grass-roots reform of NUS, no to a second Extraordinary Conference! Open planning meeting for a national demonstration, 15 November Police violence against LSE students protesting for human rights Feminism and the Student Movement event, 13 December Emergency demonstration against grant cuts and cuts in student numbers ENS proposal to Another Education is Possible conference Another Education is Possible conference: SWP firmly in control NUS Women’s Campaign votes to support national demo for free education While New Labour cuts grants and student numbers, Irish students show how to fight back! Join the call for a national demo Select Category Activist Blog Daniel’s Blog ENS Women Campaigns Events Issues Resources Events Issues and Debate Actions Articles AUT/Natfhe dispute Inside NUS International struggles Joe’s Blog Materials Articles Briefings Bulletins and Leaflets Democratic structure ENS Statements Graphics Motions News Sofie’s Blog Uncategorized
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