International Student Movement

Education Protests in June 2012

We are Everywhere!

The following is an overview of activities linked to our worldwide struggle against the increasing commercialisation of education and for free emancipatory education during June 2012. It underlines the global nature of the struggle against symptoms of the currently dominating economic system, which unleashes its forces on all continents. Therefore the need to connect around the world to counter these developments and fight for a different education together is self-evident. Groups and activists worldwide are currently coordinating the first GLOBAL EDUCATION STRIKE (Oct. 18th + Nov. 14-21st 2012) in history. Get involved in the coordinations on the International Student Movement platform - no matter where you are!

Overview of education protests worldwide - June 10-15th 2012 (FLYER): archive.org (.pdf, 2.5MB)
-> simply print in duplex and fold in the middle.

A previous overview was also published for September 2011.
Latest news are always posted on the global ISM fb page.
Anything missing as part of the overview? Comments? Suggestions? Drop a line at ~

★ one world - one struggle ★

June 2012:
Protests at the so-called
Free University of Berlin

Last Wednesday (June 6) the Presidential Boad (Präsidium) of the Free University (FU) of Berlin temporarily looked like a besieged fortress: Several hundred students rushed to the entrance to get inside the building. Reason for the siege is a new framework of examination regulations, which the Presidential Board drafted without the inclusion of student committees. This framework includes that examinations can only be repeated twice and that students can be forced to attend compulsory consultation sessions from the third semester onwards. Michael Beron of the student representative body (AStA) sees in this framework an attempt to generate "an enormous pressure to perform and conform".

May 2012:
Students squat Faculties at the Universidad de la Laguna in the Struggle against Cuts

The following report was sent in by an activist involved in the ongoing occupation on May 23rd:

My name is Florencia, I am one of the students who are occupying the Fine Arts building at the Universidad de La Laguna in Tenerife. Let me explain why we are here.
On April 20th, the Spanish government published a Royal Decree in order to reduce the budget in education by 3,000 million euros, for which the following measures will be taken:

• Controlling the growth of the Universities and the creation of new centers. (We are specially affected by this, since our building is seriously damaged, old, and inappropriate, and they will stop building the new one, that is halfway built by now.)
• Controlling the hiring of teachers (200 professors will be fired in our university alone)
• Roughening the requirements for accessing scholarships. This will make it nearly impossible for students to balance studying and working. Soon only the wealthy will be able to access higher education. 
• Controlling thoroughly the teacher’s research. 
• If Universities overdue the budget they will be fined.
• University fees will rise significantly. Enrollment for an undergraduate degree currently costs around 700/800 euros, but next year it will rise up to 1,900.
  

Kuala Lumpur, April 14th:
Rally for Free Education
- public Square occupied -

Not only in Taipei (check: ism-global.net) have students and teachers in Asia been resisting the increasing commercialisation of education, but also in Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia) things are heating up. More than 500 people protested against the education loan scheme PTPTN as well as for free education in the streets of the capital yesterday (April 14th). PTPTN stands for the National Higher Education Fund Corporation.

The students first gathered in front of Masjid Jamek LRT station at 2pm. They then marched towards the Sogo shopping centre along Jalan Raja Laut. At 3pm, the crowd stopped in front of the Sogo shopping centre to hear speeches from student leaders.

Mandeep Singh, a former student (he did not disclose his university): "The PTPTN only drives the youth into debt. And not just the youth, but also their families!” he shouted.

The students then left Sogo at around 3:35pm, and marched down Jalan Tunku Abdul Rahman towards Dataran Merdeka.

Following the rally more than 300 activists began to set up tents on the Merdeka Square and occupied it. Assemblies were and are still being held. At this hour (April 15th - 5.30pm local time) the square is still being occupied.

reports: freemalaysiatoday.com + malaysia-chronicle.com

By the way, how about uniting worldwide for a Global Education Strike on November 19th 2012?

Currently activists are also considering to set up an International Student Movement - Chinese (中文). Get involved!
International Student Movement - Asia: ism-global.net/ism.asia

more videos of the rally: I, II, III, IV

pictures of the rally:

"Students are not Robots! Stop fooling students."

Taipei, March 26th:
Protest against Tuition Fees
Anti-Commercialisation Platform Initiated

Not only in Canada students are currently struggling against increasing tuition fees but also in Taiwan, where the government announced plans to hike fees by 10% last week. A final decision on this issue is expected by the end of April, but students are angry and didn't want to wait.

Close to 100 students, teachers and labour union activists got organised and gathered in front of the Ministry of Education in Taipei to hold a "Press Conference". Various speeches were held, a rather huge media presence covered the event and the activists did not let the huge police force at the spot intimidate them.

Tsai Chung-yi (蔡忠益), section chief of the MOE’s Department of Higher Education, faced the students, but only spread hot air saying that a final decision has not been taken yet and that he will forward the message to the minister. Since the minister or chief secretary didn't come out to receive their demands and to express their dissatisfaction with the reaction to their protest activists decided to tear up a huge poster with their goals.

It listed the following three points:

• NO tuition hike - tuition fee should be cut annually instead, until education is freely accessible to all;
• NO decentralisation of the decision making regarding the costs for tuition fees - this would promote the corporatisation of universities even further;
• higher taxes for the high-tec industry as well as other wealthy parts of society.

The protest was also used by the activists to express their unity with the ongoing student strike in Quebec and with education activists worldwide. After all this is a common struggle and we are all in this together.