Tag: university

Cost of studying puts working-class people off university

On By adampd1968Leave a comment
Socialist Students campaigning against the student cost-of-living crisis

Studying at university has become even more unaffordable for less well-off students, a recent report published by the Higher Education Policy Institute (HEPI) reveals.

The report calculates that the ‘Minimum Income Standard’ – the minimum income needed to study at university per year, including costs of living such as rent and groceries but excluding tuition fee costs – has risen to £18,632 for those studying outside of London, and £21,774 for those within London. Maintenance loans are able to cover less of these expenses year on year.

According to the National Union of Students, 69% of students are now employed alongside studying to afford their studies, up from 45% in 2022. Students have reported that balancing working, studying, and other commitments – alongside worrying about money – is having a negative impact on their academic achievement.

Access to higher education is further becoming the privilege of the wealthy few, deepening the economic inequality in the UK as working-class and poorer young people are forced to forego education and take low-paid jobs with little chance of long-term progression. Meanwhile, universities are being run like businesses: relying on inflated fees while simultaneously axing degree programmes, underpaying staff, and providing little support to students. Staff participating in the UCU strikes in 2022-23 spoke out on many of these deeply ingrained issues.

The long-term impact of the crisis in higher education is dire. Young people will have fewer opportunities, and industries dependent on qualified graduates will continue to face worker shortages.

The solution is obvious: stop treating education as big business and start treating it as an essential public service, free to use with grants, not debt, to enable people to study. It’s time for a democratically run and high-quality higher education system that is accessible to all and meets the needs of both students and staff.

Socialist Students says:

  • Fight for fully funded free education – scrap and refund tuition fees, cancel student debt, replace student loans with living grants tied to the rate of inflation. Make the super-rich pay!
  • Take universities under the democratic control of elected bodies of campus trade unions, students and communities
  • Build democratic student organisations to link up with the campus trade unions and fight for what our universities need
  • Build a new mass party that will stand up for students and workers
  • Fight for socialist change – for democratic public ownership of the banks, monopolies and major industry to provide us with a future

REPORT: Socialist Students conference 2024

On By adampd1968Leave a comment

Organising the fight for a socialist world in schools, colleges and universities

Nandi from Queen Mary Socialist Students addressing the conference (Photo: Berkay Kartav)

Nearly 100 young socialists met in Birmingham on Saturday 10 February for Socialist Students national conference. Held annually to decide the political direction of Socialist Students for the coming year, the conference brought together student organisers from over 30 university and college campuses, as well as young workers and trade unionists bringing solidarity as visitors.

This year’s conference took place in the midst of the huge protest movement against Israel’s brutal onslaught on Gaza, which has seen thousands of students across the UK protesting. Delegates from a number of Socialist Students groups reported on successful protests and walkouts they had organised in their colleges and universities. Conference agreed unanimously that Socialist Students should “continue its campaigning to build a young, socialist pole of attraction within the current anti-war movement”.

The importance of building support for socialist ideas to end war was underlined in the opening discussion on the global crisis of capitalism, which outlined the growing fault lines for conflict around the world. Added to the deepening environmental crisis, the soaring cost of living and attacks to our democratic rights, the recent outbreak of major wars – first in Ukraine and then in Gaza – shows the dystopian character of capitalism today. That’s why delegates voted for Socialist Students to “reaffirm our commitment to fighting for a socialist world, free of exploitation and oppression”.

The rest of the conference was all about how Socialist Students groups go about doing just that – practically putting forward what steps we can take now to organise the fight for a socialist world within our schools, colleges and universities.

Socialist Students organisers reported different initiatives that they had taken, or were planning to take, on their campuses – campaigning for things such as rent controls in student housing and standing candidates in student areas in the upcoming local elections. Speakers emphasised the need to link our immediate campaigning demands to the fight for a socialist system, as the only way for improvements to our lives to be won on a stable basis.

All of those demands – whether it’s defending our right to protest, or ensuring we can afford to keep a roof over our head – point to the need for a political voice to fight in the interests of students and young people in parliament and the council chambers. This year’s conference identified the upcoming general election as a crucial opportunity for Socialist Students to organise a political fightback among students – not just to kick out the Tories, but also to offer a socialist alternative to Keir Starmer’s Labour Party.

Multiple speakers reminded conference about Jeremy Corbyn’s time as Labour leader, which saw the biggest youth movement of the past decade in support of his left, anti-austerity policies – including the call for free university education.

Socialist Students organisers have previously stood as part of the Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition (TUSC) in local elections. This year, conference decided that Socialist Students should approach TUSC about affiliating nationally, as the best way to coordinate with other groups putting forward a “working-class challenge to the pro-austerity and pro-capitalist parties at the next election”.

The mood of delegates throughout the day was determined and optimistic. There was a real back-and-forth exchange of ideas among all the young people gathered, which continued into the breaks and the post-conference evening social. Dozens of speakers came in to speak throughout the day, including many attending their first Socialist Students conference. The sense among organisers was that we’ve got work to do now, and a world to win – and this year’s conference has put us in the strongest possible position to do that.

Why we’re coming to Socialist Students conference 2024

On By juliancope1917Leave a comment
Cardiff Socialist Students

The rich say change is impossible – it’s not

Tom Porter-Brown, Birmingham Socialist Students

The wealthiest 1% hope to make social change seem like an impossible goal. But the various capitalist crises are taking their toll on young and working-class people in a way that cannot be ignored. This is why more and more young people consider themselves socialists.

This is why the Socialist Students conference is a great opportunity for anyone who wants to get involved, but doesn’t know where to start. It is an opportunity to link up with others to share and develop ideas.

It is very easy to feel politically isolated, that every effort made to fix the system is meaningless. By attending Socialist Students conference you get to see how a democratic organisation operates.

It is also a great opportunity to meet and socialise with other young socialists from up and down the country.

Socialist Students groups have a lot to prepare for.

As the Tories continue to splinter and break apart, Keir Starmer’s Labour looks set to run the country. This government will not be run in the interests of students. Starmer has shown himself to be no friend of the working class.

It’s imperative that we discuss how best to tackle capitalist policies, and defend our right to an education that doesn’t cause a mountain of debt once we’re finished.

Starmer’s Labour doesn’t just threaten students. His refusal to promise to scrap all the Tory anti-union laws means that workers will still find their rights under attack. Students and workers need to link our causes together.

The majority of Labour MPs voted with the Tories against a ceasefire in the brutal and relentless war on Gaza. Many MPs that did back a ceasefire, only did so because of the immense pressure felt by the continuous protests.

Rishi Sunak was also forced to sack ultra-right-wing home secretary Suella Braverman. This proves our actions have results. The next step forward is to discuss what we can do to put pressure on this government, with student walkouts and more.

Socialist Students conference will be informative, educational, and enjoyable, for both newcomers and existing members. I cannot recommend it enough.

Reality of education has made us socialists

Faisal Aljenaid, Surrey Socialist Students

Teachers can’t teach lessons properly because they are way too overworked and underpaid. Because there aren’t enough teachers, PhD students are heavily relied on, which drives the wages even lower.

Students enter higher education to experience what it is like to live like an adult for the first time, and to discover themselves. But they can’t even afford that. At 18 years old, they have to take a loan, almost equivalent to a downpayment for a house. It’s a predatory practice.

They then have to deal with accommodation. In the first year, you are lucky if you get a place that doesn’t smell of mould, or isn’t the size of a coat closet.

After that, you have to fight every year to get a basic room that won’t cost you your life savings. Almost all educational institutes in the UK give no support to students either, from meals or tutoring, that the teachers have to do off-hours. The system has beaten everyone. This is why students should be socialists.