A school student strike took place this week in an academy in Dover. The school has just been turned into an academy with sponsorship from Canterbury Christ Church University, two grammar schools and Kent county council.
Claire Laker-Mansfield
A student at Dover Christ Church Academy told us: “We went on strike about lunch periods, which had have been shortened by 15 minutes and split into two, meaning we have all been split up from our friends. We got a new headteacher when the school became an academy. The old one was popular and listened to students’ views.
Police called
“We organised the strike on Facebook with a group called ‘strike for lunch’, adding friends and calling for a walk-out. On 4 October at 11.15am, we walked out en masse with more and more students joining us.
“Our numbers eventually swelled to around 300 students. We chanted: ‘We shall not be moved’, ‘We want Archers [the name of the school before it became an academy] back’ and ‘We want lunchbreaks!’
“The police were called to ‘restore order’. It is wrong that the police were used – we have a right to protest and make our feelings known!”
Protests will continue
Socialist Students and Youth Fight for Jobs distributed leaflets explaining that we supported the students’ right to protest. We were enthusiastically received by the students who planned another protest, and supported our idea of holding a silent protest on the grass outside the school with placards and banners.
However on the day this didn’t happen. The management rounded up the ringleaders and sent them home.
Protests will increase across the country. Cuts and privatisation are what the government has prepared for education across the country, and such protests will increase in response to top-down, heavy-handed tactics.
Socialist campaigners can play a big role in supporting these actions and helping them be a success.
Huddersfield
Join the March Against EMA Cuts
Wednesday 20 October
Assemble 12.40pm outside entrance to Greenhead College, Greenhead Road, Huddersfield, HD1 4ES
Come to our meeting
Can we fund a living EMA for all?
Monday 18 October, 5pm
downstairs in Cafe Evolution.
For more info contact Dexter on
07843994596 or e-mail [email protected]
Join the campaign Facebook group: Huddersfield Colleges Against EMA Cuts
Mansfield Youth Fight for Jobs and Socialist Students
Protest against EMA and public spending cuts
Wednesday 20 October, 12.30pm
West Nottinghamshire College
Chesterfield Road South Mansfield, NG19 7BB
