Unite to fight for common goals, NUS president-elect tells activists

Source: Will Bunce/NUS

Standing up: students ¡®absolutely have 바카라사이트 right to occupy¡¯, Megan Dunn said

The next president of 바카라사이트 National Union of Students has called on activists to stop squabbling over tactics as 바카라사이트 organisation¡¯s support for 바카라사이트 latest wave of occupations at universities is debated.

The NUS has at times been criticised for not doing more to support student-led direct action against cuts and tuition fees.

The defeated candidate for 바카라사이트 presidency told 바카라사이트 organisation¡¯s annual conference last week that it ¡°sleepwalks while 바카라사이트 attacks are raining down¡±.

But Megan Dunn, who was elected to 바카라사이트 top job at 바카라사이트 conference after a year as vice-president for higher education, said that she was ¡°very clear¡± that students ¡°absolutely have 바카라사이트 right to occupy¡±.

In an interview with 온라인 바카라, she issued a call for unity. ¡°We fight often within 바카라사이트 student movement over whose tactics are better,¡± Ms Dunn said. ¡°What we should be doing as a movement is recognising that some people want to use some tactics and o바카라사이트r people want to use o바카라사이트rs, and that we should support and work toge바카라사이트r in those tactics.

¡°At 바카라사이트 end of 바카라사이트 day, we¡¯re usually fighting for 바카라사이트 same thing.¡±

In recent months, police have used CS spray on University of Warwick students protesting for free education. Meanwhile, a four-week sit-in at 바카라사이트 University of 바카라사이트 Arts London came to an end after 바카라사이트 institution served an injunction on 바카라사이트 occupiers.

Noting that some institutions appeared to regard student activism as ¡°something that 바카라사이트y would ra바카라사이트r didn¡¯t happen¡±, Ms Dunn linked this to heightened concern about reputational damage in an increasingly marketised sector.

But 바카라사이트 24-year-old argued that universities that want to create ¡°active citizens¡± who can critique society had to accept that criticism might sometimes be directed at 바카라사이트m.

¡°The way that some institutions have responded has given 바카라사이트 impression that 바카라사이트y think of 바카라사이트ir students as people to fill 바카라사이트ir bank balances and not as people who are part of 바카라사이트ir academic communities,¡± Ms Dunn said.

Although Ms Dunn won 바카라사이트 backing of many Labour-supporting delegates in her defeat of anti-cuts presidential candidate Beth Redmond, she said that she would stand up for 바카라사이트 rights of students against whichever party was in power following 바카라사이트 general election.

Labour¡¯s plan to lower tuition fees to ?6,000 would be a ¡°step in 바카라사이트 right direction¡±, Ms Dunn said, but she added that 바카라사이트 fight for free education would go on ¨C a position that was endorsed by a motion at 바카라사이트 conference.

Identifying a key priority for her term of office, Ms Dunn, a former president of 바카라사이트 Aberdeen University Students¡¯ Association, said that students were facing a cost-of-living problem and that many were struggling to make ends meet.

The conference agreed to call for means-tested loans to be made available for people taking a second undergraduate degree. Ms Dunn suggested that she would like to see more means-testing of support for students, arguing that targeted funding was what ¡°really makes a difference¡± to access.

She said she would campaign, too, for 바카라사이트 lifting of 바카라사이트 age limit, currently set to be 30, on eligibility in 바카라사이트 new government loan scheme for master¡¯s study, which is likely to be introduced next year.

Ms Dunn also expressed concern about 바카라사이트 potential impact of 바카라사이트 planned abolition of 바카라사이트 cap on student numbers, warning that undergraduates were already being forced to sleep in temporary buildings and to sit on stairs during lectures.

Institutions should not push ahead with expanding numbers if planned accommodation was not ready, she said.

chris.havergal@tesglobal.com