Student Protests in the UK
Posted: Tue Nov 30, 2010 12:49 pm
This has already been discussed somewhat in the Today Thread, but I think it deserves a thread of its own.
Unless you've been living under a rock (Or a different country!) you'll have seen the student protests on the news. They've been going off all around the country over the past few weeks, but most notably within Whitehall in London. The first one was organised by the National Union of Students, but was kinda spoiled by a minority of people causing some violence, which has been all over the media.
There are more protests going off today. In my city of Newcastle upon Tyne, the local schools have been holding walk outs and many non-University students have held some peaceful protests. My University is also holding a protest today, and up here we haven't had any incidents of violence at all.
You can read more on the BBC here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-11877034
For those that don't know, the protests are about the plans to raise fees from the current £3k-ish a year to £6k a year that could reach £9k a year, which could stop many people from going to University if they cannot afford it.
What has students even more outraged is that many voted for the Lib Dems in the general election this year as they promised no rise in fees. The Lib Dems entered a coalition and have now u-turned on their promise, meaning many students are especially unhappy with the Lib Dem leader, Nick Clegg, especially as he went around the country signing pledges against the rise in fees. Now he's the deputy Prime Minister, it looks like a rise in fees is inevitable.
What do you guys think about the situation and protests? Are students right to protest or are they being violent and selfish? Is Nick Clegg right or wrong?
Personally speaking I think it's an important issue. I'm in my final year, so this won't affect me, but it annoys me when current students don't care about the future of others just because it won't affect them.
Unless you've been living under a rock (Or a different country!) you'll have seen the student protests on the news. They've been going off all around the country over the past few weeks, but most notably within Whitehall in London. The first one was organised by the National Union of Students, but was kinda spoiled by a minority of people causing some violence, which has been all over the media.
There are more protests going off today. In my city of Newcastle upon Tyne, the local schools have been holding walk outs and many non-University students have held some peaceful protests. My University is also holding a protest today, and up here we haven't had any incidents of violence at all.
You can read more on the BBC here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-11877034
For those that don't know, the protests are about the plans to raise fees from the current £3k-ish a year to £6k a year that could reach £9k a year, which could stop many people from going to University if they cannot afford it.
What has students even more outraged is that many voted for the Lib Dems in the general election this year as they promised no rise in fees. The Lib Dems entered a coalition and have now u-turned on their promise, meaning many students are especially unhappy with the Lib Dem leader, Nick Clegg, especially as he went around the country signing pledges against the rise in fees. Now he's the deputy Prime Minister, it looks like a rise in fees is inevitable.
What do you guys think about the situation and protests? Are students right to protest or are they being violent and selfish? Is Nick Clegg right or wrong?
Personally speaking I think it's an important issue. I'm in my final year, so this won't affect me, but it annoys me when current students don't care about the future of others just because it won't affect them.