The Socialist 24 October 2018

“May hanging by a thread” - Tories out, general election now

'People's vote' should be a general election

Support RMT strikes against the elimination of guards on trains

Glasgow council workers - historic strike for equal pay

3aaa collapses - 4,500 apprentices left guessing their futures

PCS legal win - build further pressure from below to defeat the Tories

Ladywood Primary school strike

Universal Credit could trap women in violent relationships

Blairites plan to expand their very own academy chain

Tories ensured Carillion meltdown went unchecked

MPs revel in £2m worth of free foreign trips

Them & Us

Welsh Labour leadership election: 'Corbyn candidate' must pledge end to austerity

Join the fight for refugee rights

Can you donate to the Socialism 2018 appeal?

Enthusiastic response to new podcast

Students and workers march for increased college funding

Joining the Socialist Party has helped me understand the world and how we can change it

Health services in meltdown - fight to save our NHS

Newcastle Utd fans' campaign against owner Mike Ashley continues

Germany: Bavarian elections and huge anti-racist demonstration mark an historic weekend

1821 Cinderloo uprising: "The crowd thought it had nothing else to lose"

PO Box 1398, Enfield EN1 9GT

020 8988 8777

[email protected]

Link to this page: https://www.socialistparty.org.uk/issue/1015/28151

Search the site	Printable version

Home | The Socialist 24 October 2018 | Join the Socialist Party

Subscribe | Donate | Audio | PDF | ebook

Students and workers march for increased college funding

Students demanding an end to Tory cuts and austerity in education. London, 17.10.18, photo Isai Priya (Click to enlarge)

Socialist Students

Over 1,000 teachers, lecturers and college students marched through central London on 17 October to demand the end to Tory cuts and austerity in education.

Organised by the University and College Union (UCU) and public sector union Unison, people mobilised from around the country to march and to lobby MPs in Parliament to demand the end of the harsh funding squeeze which has gripped further education (FE) colleges for years.

"Where's our pay!"

Marching from Waterloo Place to Parliament Square, the streets were filled with chants of "Theresa May, where's our pay!" and "The money's there, we want our share!"

The youthful turnout of FE students lifted the mood of the marchers. Leaflets calling for the building of a united student and workers' movement to kick out the Tory government, as the only solution to the funding crisis, quickly disappeared from the hands of Socialist Students members.

Nearly a decade of Tory austerity and woefully inadequate funding for FE has meant job cuts, pay cuts, and the spiralling of workloads for teachers. Schools face identical problems.

The National Audit Office said in 2016 that by 2019-2020 schools will have to make funding cuts amounting to £3 billion, meaning increased class sizes, cuts to educational resources for children and more work, less pay, and worse conditions for staff.

At the same time, the rich have continued to rake in super profits while the lives of staff and the futures of children are thrown down the drain - the top CEOs in Britain in 2017 received an 11% pay rise!

Tory fears

This march will only add to the Tories' fears that a new movement for education is spreading. Earlier this month, 1,000 headteachers marched through central London, effectively taking strike action, to demand an 8% increase in schools funding.

Socialist Students stands shoulder to shoulder with lecturers, teachers, support staff and students in all our schools, colleges and universities fighting for their futures. Students and workers, let's unite and strike together to kick out the Tories!

In this issue

What we think

'People's vote' should be a general election