Emo Scene Community

So as many of you know I have been getting hyped up over the demo this coming Wednesday but many of you are asking why. Okay so I live in Wales where tuition fees are capped at £3500 until 2016, EMA is an on-going privilege we get to enjoy in for FE students and our government seems a lot less concerned with privatisation of education so why should I care? Well for a start the Welsh Governments funding has been cut so it has no choice but to make cuts to our education sector, this has been seen all over Wales with various mergers between colleges and universities which has cause inevitable disruption to the day to day running of our institutions, especially with the amalgamation of IT services and support from what was two or more separate institutions. You have to ask how long it will be before our government has to take a step back and look at EMA, FCFs and ALG or even decides to follow the English Government and abolish some of our much needed student support, EMA is only guaranteed until 2016! Our fight on the streets of London are not only for current students but we are fighting to preserve what we have for future generations, I have worked with NUS Wales and I can tell you it was not easy for us to preserve what we have of EMA and it frustrates me so much when I hear students moan about not having bonuses or the means testing becoming more narrow as so much was done to get us where we are today. You have to remember that English students do not get EMA even if they are studying in Wales and live just over the border. As well as our rights what about those sitting next to us in our classes? English students studying in Wales have to pay up to £9000 for the same course we are paying £3500 for, I know international students have been used as cash cows for institutions for years but don't you think it's gone too far when we are charging our neighbours this much? With the Welsh Government subsidising our education by so much they will struggle before long, along with our universities to support students and maintain their level of services, I know it may seem basic but members of staff working in areas such as reprographics are being removed to make savings all the time, this causes a lot of problems for some lecturers with photocopying queues and pieces of paper disappearing. This demo is not just about tuition fees again, it’s about the funding to education and what the government plans to do with it and I think it's fair to say that if you asked any government minister what education would look like in five years they would honestly have to say they have no idea. In England post 16 education is being pushed into privatisation, this is going to cause a bigger rift between the rich and the poor with institutions only running the more profitable courses or even charging ridiculous amounts for courses as is happening in HE. With the privatisation of institutions I also think it’s fair to expect tutor contact time and students support will be reduced to make savings as education will just become another business for people. I am attending the demo to fight for my rights as well as to show solidarity with those in HE and to ensure that I can still go on to study at a HE level if I decide to in the future. I have been an A-Level student and I have been employed as a sabbatical officer, I am now an apprentice so I have seen the ups and downs of the education sector and I want to make it clear to those in Government that I am one of the disenfranchised masses who is disgusted by what they are doing to our education sector. I will be marching beside people from all over the UK to try and fight for better funding and support within education, to preserve the courses that interest people and will help with their chosen career, to allow people the opportunity to retrain and up skill, to get rid of hidden course fees (such as books, uniform, trips and other such things not mentioned when you apply for the course) and to get people employed. After education people will move on to employment, in Wales we have more NEETs than any other region; this means that our population is worse off than anywhere else in the UK. With the closing of businesses, including our big stores such as Comet and Woolworths (okay Woolworths was a while ago but I miss my pick 'n' mix) it is becoming harder and harder to find employment so we have no choice but to try and get in to new sectors or be better than everyone else applying for the same job in some way, the only way we can do that is through education and experience which is under threat from the Government. Just to make clear, I am aware we have our own Government but their policies and funding are dictated to a great extent by the UK Government, other areas are also not devolved such as the UK Boarder Agency so we are subject to the rules and regulations passed down by the UK. I also elected my local MP and I refuse to let him undertake work or vote on a subject close to me without being heard. When it came to university fees he wrote to me and pledged to vote against a rise in tuition fees, which he did. It is important that we hold our elected representatives to account and make sure they are actually representing us. This demo is not the only thing being done, the amazing elected representatives of NUS and our devolved nations are fighting each day to preserve and extend our rights as students as well as our student activists such as myself. Letters are being written, meetings are being conducted and pledges are being signed (not that I would trust some MPs pledges again!). My point is that the work is unending and this is just one step towards a greater good which I voted for at NUS National Conference last year. A demo may be great fun but we are fighting for our education, for employment and to empower the people of Great Briton! EDUCATE, EMPLOY, EMPOWER #DEMO2012 21st November 2012 www.demo2012.org.uk Feel free to contact me about the demo or the student movement as a whole. CJ NUS Wales Procedures Committee christian.watkins@nus-wales.org.uk