Students speak out against anti-Chinese hate crime

By New Worker correspondent

Following the recent coronavirus outbreak, many countries, organisations and individuals have shown sympathy and support for the Chinese government and its citizens. The British government, businesses, the Chinese community in the UK and Chinese overseas students have also come forward with assistance and donations. But there have also been isolated cases of discrimination against Chinese students in Britain, with one student physically attacked outside a university campus.

On 4th February two student organisations, Universities UK (UUK) and the UK Council for International Student Affairs (UKCISA), said: “The health, welfare and safety of students and staff is the top priority for university leaders following the Coronavirus outbreak.

“Our universities have a strong history of welcoming Chinese students and staff to the UK and they are very much part of our international community. UK universities will not tolerate racism in any form, and we encourage students and staff to report any incident of racial harassment and seek support from their university.

“At this difficult time, we ask that students and staff support their friends and fellow colleagues in solidarity with the whole of the international higher education community.”

On the same day, the National Union of Students (NUS) said that the: “NUS believes that all forms of hate and prejudice are unacceptable and shall continue to support students and Student’s Unions on any issues they may face around hate crime and xenophobia. We are very concerned by reports that Chinese students are experiencing discrimination as a result of this situation. We have a continued responsibility to ensure our spaces are inclusive and accessible to all students.”

The Chinese Embassy has called on the government, police and universities to protect Chinese citizens, students and their rights in accordance with law. The Embassy will also provide support and consular protection to Chinese citizens within its areas of competence and in a timely fashion. The Chinese Embassy asks all the Chinese nationals in Britain to pay attention to their personal safety and, when encountering racist or bullying behaviour, to put safety first, remain calm and report it to the police, universities or other authorities.

Students march for free education

by New Worker correspondent
 

MORE THAN 15,000 students, lecturers and college workers marched through London last Saturday  from Park Lane, past the Houses of Parliament, to Millbank to demand free, quality further and higher education, accessible to all.

Their key demands were:

• To invest in our FE [further education] colleges and sixth forms, and stop college mergers;

• To write off student debt and stop private education companies profiting from student fees;

• ·        To scrap the Higher Education and Research Bill, halt the rise in tuition fees and bring back maintenance grants.

The National Union of Students’ (NUS) protest was actively supported by the college lecturers’ union UCU in response to what the NUS says is the wake of the biggest attacks to the education sector in modern times.

The union estimated this was the biggest student protest in London for years. Approximately 60 coaches brought students from across Britain, with a special mention going to Orkney College, whose students set off at 4am the previous day from the Northern tip of Scotland and travelled over 700 miles to take part.

The march concluded with a rally at Millbank featuring rousing speeches from Sally Hunt (general secretary, UCU), Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady, Amelia Womack (deputy leader of the Green Party), NS President Maila Bouattia and other student leaders,and Darletta Scruggs, a Chicago-based activist from the Black Lives Matter movement.

They delivered the message that free, good quality education is a right for all, regardless of ability to pay and more than at any time before we have to fight for that.

FE colleges have been cut to the core, with huge job losses and course closures, and a desperate need for investment that simply isn’t being provided.

In higher education (HE), tuition fees are rising and the Government is forcing universities to run like businesses. Students are facing higher debt than ever before with maintenance grants and NHS bursaries scrapped, student loan terms changed and tuition fees set to reach £12,000 by 2026.

They protested against Government plans in the Higher Education Bill for an ideologically led market experiment that would open up HE in Britain to the likes of Trump University and leave students facing escalating fees.

Before the march Professor Stephen Curry, a structural biologist from Imperial College London, wrote in the Guardian: “The Higher Education and Research Bill has to be amended before it undermines the autonomy and vitality of our universities and the UK research base.”

Earlier in the week the Government tabled amendments to the Bill but failed to address critics’ key concerns relating to private providers and fees. The Bill will introduce a teaching excellence framework that will rank universities by quality and allow the best-performing institutions to raise their fees in line with inflation.

The proposals will also make it easier for new institutions, including for-profits, to gain a university title – a label that can significantly boost applications from overseas students and that currently takes decades to achieve.

Malia Bouattia said the plans would damage quality and leave students in even more debt: “The Government is running at pace with a deeply risky, ideologically-led market experiment in further and higher education, and students and lecturers, who will suffer most as a result, are clear that this can’t be allowed to happen.

“This week, before the Bill has even been properly debated in Parliament, let alone passed, universities are already advertising fees above £9,000.”