#FreeEducation

Thousands of students marched through central London on November 19, demanding free education.

The demonstration was organised by the National Campaign against Fees and Cuts (NCAFC) National Union of Students (NUS) and other groups such as the Student Assembly Against Austerity. 

These protests began in 2010 and have since progressed due to the trebling of tuition fees, scrapping of the Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA) and cuts to education. The government’s austerity agenda has brought a lifetime of debt to those students whose parents are unable to fund their education.  

It was in 2010 when the coalition government was formed after the election. Students had strongly supported the Liberal Democrats as they previously promised a free education initiative. After failing to deliver on this manifesto promise, students took it as a betrayal and now protest against the government and in favour of free education

 NCAFC organiser, Beth Redmond, said: “The Lib Dems essentially put the nail in their own coffin when they betrayed students. They will never be trusted again and will never be considered anything but a joke party.”

The London protests were deemed a success by the organisations involved but raised concerns over the violence and repression police allegedly handed out to student protesters, including arrests and assaults by the police officers. 

As a result of this violence and repression another hashtag has risen: #copsofcampus. This is in light of the police brutality suffered by some protests. Warwick University held a sit in on the ground floor of the building to discuss free education.  

Riot police and security from the university arrived and it is claimed that CS gas was used on at least 10 protesters, and tasers were drawn.  Police, some of them with dogs, then chased some students across campus, and others were assaulted by security.  

Since the central London protests there have been many other ways in which students have stood for free education. Cambridge saw its East Office of Department of Business defaced with a sign reading ‘our education not your business’. 

December 3 saw dozens of universities including: Manchester, UCL, Birmingham, Sussex, Warwick, Gloustershire, Sheffield and many others, partaking in mobilisations and occupations in protest of fees and cuts.

Both Lancaster University and Sheffield University had some of their demands met when they went into occupation on the 3rd - at Lancaster, university management has agreed to start a dialogue with those in the occupation about stopping rent and tuition fees increasing, and the vice chancellor at Sheffield has agreed to consider lobbying the government for free education. “Even so soon into the campaign we are seeing progress,” Commented Redmond.

However, the government released a statement after the London demonstration informing NCAFC that they were not going to consider abolishing tuition fees. But, according to the National Campaign Against Fees and Cuts, that isn't going to stop them organising and protesting.

Only four years ago higher education came at a maximum price of £3,000. One student who went to Northumbria University during this time was Claire Falkingham, 27, who said: “I don’t understand why people are paying three times more than I paid when they are getting the same, what’s changed?”  

What brought about this change was the massive deficit left by the previous labour government due to the global economic crash. This caused the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats to proceed with austerity measures. This then meant universities were given less money so therefore tuition fees had to rise to eradicate the newly created funding gap.