#WeAreWarwick
**On November 21, students from across campus and the UK will be marching together through the streets of London, and we are proud to say that as your SU Sabbatical team we will be marching too. **
In 2010, students faced one of the greatest threats to date to the public value of their education in the marketization and commercialisation of the sector, brought about by the £9,000 fee environment. Many student leaders found their voice and first got active through these marches, protests, lobbying days and demonstrations.
It is common for students to believe that the students lost in 2010. Not just because the headline fee passed into law, but often because our student leaders allowed this idea to settle as a means of stoking the fire of student radicalism and activism.
However, we gained a lot. Not only did the government back down significantly from the original proposals in the Browne review, but we saw one of the biggest rebellions of this Parliament. We also saw through every student, a new generation of activists, of passionate students who wanted to engage and challenge the issues of the day. In 2012, activism worked.
Even more important was that every Warwick student who marched wasn’t marching for themselves; they were marching for their younger siblings, neighbours, or for the principle itself, that education should be defended as a right which is accessible to all. There is no reason why the selfless activism of 2012 cannot be repeated to tackle the challenges of today.
International students face the possibility of deportion by a cruel immigration system that controls and restricts their lives after study. The postgraduate funding crisis continues, with future study determined more by wealth than passion for learning. We now also have the first generation of £9,000 home/EU students who are, justifiably, furious about the treatment they have received.
It is the duty of our generation to stand up and shout out for the values we believe in and to promote an alternative to the misfortune young people across the UK face. That is why; we as a team, and students from across the UK are marching. In short; we march for a future worth fighting for.
Comments