A free education movement
Organise regular coordinated local marches for free education across the country, bringing in
local communities and activists
Expand the fight for free education: campaign for living grants for all students in HE and FE
Build a fighting alliance of trade unions, students and community groups for free education to
mobilise nationally and pressure politicians
I am running for VP Higher Education because I want to see a radical campaign for free, democratic, liberatory education.
hattie craig for VP HE
National Campaign Against Fees and Cuts National
Committee 2013-present* Played a key role in the mobilisation of the 10,000-
strong free education demo in November
* Supported activists across the country against
management repression, police violence and sometimes
their own student union leaderships
* Lead workshops on grassroots anti-cuts organising
and higher education policy
Birmingham Defend Education, 2011-present* Taken part in organising three occupations, fighting
for justice on campus, and dragged through
disciplinaries
* Helped win the living wage, working in solidarity
with staff and trade unions on campus
* Campaigned against and successfully overturned
students’ suspensions
Over the past year, we have witnessed an incredible change in the student movement: from a position in which free
If we want to win truly free education, we have to be honest with ourselves about the kind
of movement we need to win it. It is true that across the world, students have fought and
won on fees and grants. These movements have been massive, they have been radical, and they
have taken years. We need NUS to end its obsession with soft lobbying tactics. The idea that
some students and unions "aren't ready" for direct action isn't just patrionising, it is holding us
back.
that can win: not just wordsmy experienceUniversity of Birmingham Guild of
Students Education Officer 2013-14* Won bursaries instead of fee waivers
* Fought for the democratisation of my union
* Tackled hidden course costs
* Embedded liberation into the curriculum
Firstly, free education has to include democratisation and liberation in the curriculum and institutional governance, and the end to all
financial and social barriers to access. Second, we need to see free education as one front of a broader fight to transform society
and end exploitation, building alliances with workers. But most importantly we need an NUS leadership that has the courage and the
know-how to build a fighting movement rooted in a sustainable network of democratic unions, campus activist groups and local
communities.
We will not win on education funding when our campaigns, in spite of all the good policy
we pass, still look like those of a wet NGO. I will transform our union's national education
No borders, no nations: fight deportationsI stand for open borders: for complete freedom of movement. As well as being exploited and ripped-off
by landlords and universities alike, our members are the victims of daily racism and harassment by the
state. We need an NUS that is willing to confront that violence, and we need to mobilise and involve
international students to lead the fight for free education and a better society.
education was a contentious issue, to one where it has become largely accepted as a central demand. Winning free
education means three things for us.
Campaign to end attendance monitoring
Fight for asylum seekers to have home fees status
Practical solidarity to resist deportations and harassment
funding strategy:
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