"International Student Movement"

Global Chat Meeting - Jan. 22nd
Structure and Future of the
International Student Movement (ISM)

Let's come together for a chat meeting to evaluate the current structure of the International Student Movement (ISM) platform and discuss how we want it to be shaped in the future.

Following a foodle two weeks ago the chat meeting will take place on January 22nd (sunday).

All around the world identifying with the struggle against the increasing commercialisation of education and for free emancipatory education are invited to participate!

event page on facebook

::: How to join the Chat :::

January 22nd (sunday) -- 11am EST, 4pm GMT/UTC, 5pm CET, 9.30pm IST
(to check what time 4pm UTC is for you: www.timeanddate.com)

Chatroom: webchat.freenode.net
=> enter your NICK and CAPTCHA, hit "CONNECT"!

Agenda proposal:

TOP1: round of introduction

TOP2: evaluating and discussing idea and structure of the ISM platform: ism-global.net/ism_en

TOP3: collecting ideas for future coordinations

TOP4: open space

Istanbul (Turkey):
Starbucks at Boğaziçi University occupied:
"Cheap and Healthy Food and Freedom!"

On December 5th hundreds of students gathered near campus of Boğaziçi Üniversitesi in Istanbul to protest the increasing commercialisation of spaces on campus as well as for affordable and healthy food for everyone. Following the rally about 100 students began to squat the Starbucks outlet on campus. The occupation still continues today (Dec. 11th).

Togo:
Massive Protests for Access to Education
~ December 8th ~

NOTE: this video contains material of graphic violence from minute 10:10 onwards!

The only two public universities in Togo, the University of Lomé and the University of Kara, were temporarily shut down by authorities after riot police clashed with students on campus on thursday (Dec. 8th). To break up the protest police forces fired teargas and chased students.

The protests were triggered by a new "financial aid policy", which was introduced last month. Now payouts are only to be awarded to students considered "brilliant" or "outstanding" instead to all scholars as before. Before the introduction of this new regulation, all students received 20,000 FCFA (= 40US$, 30€) per semester.

The two public universities enrol more than 60,000 students. Besides that there are also several private institutions in this small West African country.

Students arranged general assemblies at the University of Lomé and the University of Kara, which were attended by thousands. Dozens were injured by the riot police. There are reports that they also used live ammunition. At least one student was shot in the hand.

 

The protests will continue.

If you have updates on the situation and want to see them published here, then drop a line at .

For activists across the African continent to network and connect an ISM-Africa facebook group was set up.

The following message was sent to the ISM (global) mailing list on November 29th:

100 hours of Sit-in
at the University of Bucharest (Romania)
~ stated on November 24th, 6pm ~

Students and others gathered at the SIT-IN at the University in Bucharest.
The banners in the back say „Canes cannot replace ideas” and „Obedience suffocates the conscience”.

On the 24^th of November at the University of Bucharest, a public debate over the current state of affairs of education has been organized. To stop the students and others to peacefully debate and protest, the University authorities have sent plenty of private security agents to try to stop the event.

sent to the global mailing list of the International Student Movement platform on November 21st:

Liberation of the Faculty of Arts in Ljubljana
~ Call for Support ~

A group of students, professors and assistants will attempt to liberate the Slovenian higher-education sphere from the clench of austerity measures on the 23^rd of November. They will try to do so by occupying the local Faculty of Arts and opening a democratic space for discussion and alternative praxis. Some of the measures or processes, which have been detected as problematic by the movement, have been present for long, others are still to shake academic life in the near future. We can label most of them as damaging for either the quality, accessibility or the democratic charge of the learning and research process.