SOAS Students’ Union Executive Statement on the National Demonstration for Free Education

·         Free Education

·         SOAS Bloc on the National Demonstration for Free Education

·         NUS leadership’s withdrawal of support for the National Demonstration

Free Education:

SOAS Students’ Union Executive fully supports the campaign for free education and to create an education system which is democratic, representative, and inclusive. We want educational institutions to be public institutions funded by progressive taxation, providing education as a public good, rather than as commodities for private profit. We want an education system without financial or social barriers, which is free for international students as well as home students. This campaign isn’t just about current students, but about everyone who is excluded from the current education system.

Educational institutions should be run in the interests of students and staff through collective, democratic decision-making rather than managerial-like corporate governance. We want educational institutions which seek to dismantle and oppose discrimination and oppression, in which staff are paid and treated fairly, where there is no gender pay gap, no black students' attainment gap, where teachers and curricula are representative, and teaching and learning is inclusive and supportive of all.

Resisting the privatisation and marketisation of education also means resisting the government’s austerity programme as a whole and the neoliberal agenda driving these policies. We need to fight for free, democratic, representative and inclusive education, alongside fighting for a fairer and more equal society with a welfare state that provides healthcare, education, and social services as fundamental rights, not privileges.

Find out more about the campaign for Free Education at the public meeting 'Beyond the Neoliberal University: How Do We Free Education?' on Monday 17th November, at 7pm in the KLT. Check out the Facebook event here!

SOAS Bloc at National Demonstration:

We support, and will mobilise for, the National Demonstration for Free Education on 19^th November. Hundreds of Students’ Unions across the UK are supporting and mobilising for this demonstration. Join the Facebook event for the SOAS Bloc here!

We are organising a SOAS Bloc which will meet outside SOAS at 11:30am before joining the rest of the demonstration on Malet Street (outside what used to be ULU!) We’ll be providing information about staying safe on protests while the Bloc is gathering and we’ll be giving out bust cards. Bust cards contain know your rights information about dealing with the police, Green & Black Cross contact details and the contact details of solicitors. There is a tear-out bust card on page 53 of the Students’ Union Handbook / Diary, so try to bring yours along, but we’ll also be giving out more on the day.

If you who do not want to join the protest but want to be involved on the day, you can join a group of students who will supporting the demonstration in G50 (main SOAS building) from 1pm onwards, for example by sharing information on social media and organising arrestee support. We will aim to facilitate a safe space in this room, which those on the march can return to at any point. 

For more information about the march, the SOAS Bloc, accessibility, staying safe, and other ways to get involved to support free education on the day, please click this! http://soasunion.org/news/article/6013/Information-about-the-march-for-National-Demonstration-for-Free-Education/

***Trigger warning: discussion of rape, sexual assault and rape apologism in regards to the SWP***

A range of organisations have been involved in the demonstration and are planning to attend. One of these organisations is the Socialist Workers Party (SWP), the leadership of which has previously covered up allegations of rape and sexual assault within the party and engaged in victim blaming and rape apologism. The Party has not apologised for these actions and has not introduced reforms to ensure that this does not happen again. Thus, we will not be working with the SWP, and while we cannot prevent them from joining the demonstration itself, we will endeavour to keep SWP materials out of the SOAS Bloc, which could be triggering for some people, or replace SWP names with feminist stickers.

NUS’ withdrawal of support for the national demonstration:

Earlier this week the National Union of Students (NUS) leadership withdrew support for the national demonstration on the basis that it is not safe for students.

Democracy:

NUS national conference in April voted to support free education and the NUS National Executive Council (NEC) voted to support the demonstration, which is a democratically elected body that implements policy voted through at national conference and holds the NUS full time officers to account. The decision to withdraw support for the demonstration was not made on this body, but was made by some of the NUS full time officers, however full time officers in NUS Scotland were not consulted and are still supporting the demonstration. NUS Scotland, NUS Black Students' Campaign, NUS International Students' Campaign, and NUS London are supporting the demonstration. We are concerned that democratic decisions have been overturned and that any decision to withdraw support from the demonstration should have been made at NEC, or at the very least been made by all full time officers.

Safety:

We believe that marches are never entirely safe because they are always policed, but we should still always try to make demonstrations as safe and accessible as possible. The police have approved the march, stewards have been recruited and are being trained, and the organisers have sent us a copy of the risk assessment which they have also sent to NUS.

Thus this demonstration meets the same safety criteria as student demonstrations that NUS has supported in previous years. The Cops Off Campus demonstrations last year, supported by NUS, also did not meet a lot of these criteria. Moreover, some members of NUS leadership opposed proposals at national conference that asked NUS to provide funding for support for students who are arrested on protests or victimised by university and college managements, leading us to question NUS leadership’s concern with student safety on protests.

Moreover, we are concerned that NUS withdrawing its support from the demonstration actually makes the protest less safe for those students who are attending the demonstration, as it takes away official backing and may reduce numbers as some Students’ Unions were relying on NUS for support with coaches. We wish that NUS would have raised concerns earlier, and that they would work with the organisers to ensure that the demonstration is as safe and accessible as possible, rather than withdrawing their support altogether.

We are endeavouring to ensure that the SOAS Bloc is as safe and accessible as possible and that it does not include potentially triggering representations of the SWP, and that we work with the organisers to ensure that all concerns are addressed. We will continue to work with other Students’ Unions to try to mobilise for a huge demonstration that can force free education back onto the agenda.

If you have any questions, concerns or suggestions, please email Georgie at gr14@soas.ac.uk

Signed,

Students’ Union Executive