International Student Movement

Contribute to the Visualisation of the
Global Struggle for Free Education

The GLOBAL WAVE of ACTION for FREE EDUCATION [Nov.17 - 23 2013] is approaching fast.
During various global chat meetings participants came up with the idea to somehow visualise the global struggle for free education. In the end it was decided to reach out to all of you around the world and create a photo collection with your help.

It only takes 2 minutes and this is how it goes:

Step 1: Materials
Take the back of an old poster or some other bigger piece of paper and something to write with.
And also have a camera ready.

Step 2: Your message
Write a message going out to education activists around the world and incl. #1world1struggle and your location (e.g. city) somewhere on the piece of paper.

Step 3: Photo
Take a picture of the piece together with yourself or with some interesting background.

Step 4: Share it by November 23rd
Tweet the picture with #1world1struggle / share it on the wall of the global ISM fb page / send it to the global ISM mailing list:
Btw, in case you want to subscribe to the list yourself, you can do so here: lists.riseup.net/www/info/international_students_movement

In whatever way you choose to share your picture(s), it/they will also be published on the ISM website: ism-global.net

~ bahasa indonesia ~ español ~ filipino ~ français ~ nederlands ~ português ~

Global Wave of Action for Free Education
Nov.17th - 23rd 2013

We are calling for a Global Wave of Action for Free Education. The International Student Movement (ISM) is a platform consisting of many individuals and groups from different parts of the world. A group of students associated with the ISM came together during a series of chat meetings and decided to call for a coordinated action worldwide. We will UNITE in solidarity, because no matter where we live, we face the same struggle against the state and profit-driven interests, and their hold on education. Increasing tuition fees, budget cuts, outsourcing, school closures, as well as other phenomena are linked to an increasing commercialization and privatization of education. Only by uniting globally will we be able to overcome these obstacles and enable free emancipatory education for all.

August 2013 - Chicago:
Protests against Privatization of Schools

Since Monday, August 5th, hundreds of people turned up at Palmer House in Chicago to protest against the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), which held its annual meeting there between August 7th and 9th.

ALEC might sound to some like a governmental institution, but it is actually more like a lobbying organisation.

Through ALEC, behind closed doors, corporations hand state legislators the changes to the law they desire that directly benefit their bottom line. Along with legislators, corporations have membership in ALEC. Corporations sit on all nine ALEC task forces and vote with legislators to approve “model” bills. They have their own corporate governing board which meets jointly with the legislative board. (ALEC says that corporations do not vote on the board.) Corporations fund almost all of ALEC's operations.
source: alecexposed.org

Among others ALEC propagates various policies aimed at an increased commercialization of education. It also regularly generates rankings of school performances. As many of you probably know rankings are popular instruments to encourage a competition for resources among educational institutions.
According to The Guardian "139 Alec bills [were] introduced and 31 enacted this year. The legislation focused on redirecting taxpayer money from public schools to for-profit private schools.".

This video gives a pretty good overview of the current state of the ongoing struggle against the increasing privatization of schools in Chicago:

The focus of ALEC's annual meeting was not only on education. Also the drafting of new bills with its Environmental Agriculture Task Force on behalf of its members were discussed.

During the rally on August 8th police rushed into the crowd and arrested a few people while throwing them to the ground for no apparent reason:

Also at protest actions during the previous days many protesters were arrested.

Last but not least it is vital to point out that the root of the problem is not ALEC or "corporate greed" (as proclaimed by some of the protesters), but the capitalist system, which inevitably is based on competition and the drive to generate profits. The circumstance that capital gets organized in institutions like ALEC is a logical consequence of the predominant economic system.
Also in other parts of the world similar institutions already exist or take shape. In Germany for example there is the Centre for Higher Education Development (CHE), which presents itself as a non-partisan body of experts made up of the Bertelmann Foundation (Bertelsmann being a mass media corporation) as well as the German Rectors' Conference. One of the favorite activities of the CHE is - just like ALEC - to annually publish rankings of faculties and universities and from time to time propagate the re-introduction of tuition fees. Not surprisingly institutions like the CHE and ALEC also have a significant impact on how the purposes of an "education" system are perceived.

for more info: heavy.com / thenation.com / chicagoist.com / voices.suntimes.com / huffingtonpost.com

Reclaim Education - July 2013
an ISM newsletter

Reclaim Education is a newsletter done by some individuals on the ISM platform. The content and positions expressed do not represent any particular groups or the ISM as a whole.
It consists of two A4 pages and can therefore be conveniently printed onto one sheet of paper. Download the .pdf here (~ 8mb).

In case you are interested to work on future issues of Reclaim Education, then subscribe to this mailing list.

en français

Reclaim Education #10 by International Student Movement

Transnational Student Congress 2013
Newsletter #1

Content:

   I.     About the TSC

   II.   Register as soon as possible!

   III. Call for Support

   IV.  Newsletter / Contact