Anti- academies march, London, 23.3.16 , photo by S Wrack

Anti- academies march, London, 23.3.16 , photo by S Wrack   (Click to enlarge: opens in new window)

‘No forced academies’ demonstrations

Anti- academies march, London, 23.3.16 , photo by  S Wrack

Anti- academies march, London, 23.3.16 , photo by S Wrack   (Click to enlarge: opens in new window)

On Wednesday 23rd March, Socialist Students and Socialist Party members joined thousands of others who assembled at 5pm outside Westminster Cathedral in London and then marched to the Department for Education.

Anti- academies march, London, 23.3.16 , photo by S Wrack

Anti- academies march, London, 23.3.16 , photo by S Wrack   (Click to enlarge: opens in new window)

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Anti- academies march, London, 23.3.16 , photo by  S Wrack

Anti- academies march, London, 23.3.16 , photo by S Wrack   (Click to enlarge: opens in new window)

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Anti- academies march, London, 23.3.16 , photo by  R Williams

Anti- academies march, London, 23.3.16 , photo by R Williams   (Click to enlarge: opens in new window)

Nottingham

Nottingham, 23.3.16, photo by Geraint Thomas

Nottingham, 23.3.16, photo by Geraint Thomas   (Click to enlarge: opens in new window)

A large and lively crowd gathered in Nottingham to protest against the forced academisation plans. Parents, students, staff and teachers came to the NUT and ATL organised rally.

Many of the speakers at the rally drew the connection between this imposition and privatising the education service, and calls for concrete action against it were met with applause.

As one NUT branch secretary put it: “It’s not just schools … it’s the junior doctors and the whole welfare state … we need to take action, including strike action, to stop this.”

Geraint Thomas

Coventry

See report on Coventry Socialist Party’s site: Lively Coventry protest against forced academies


See also the following articles and reports:


This version of this article was first posted on the Socialist Party website on 24 March 2016 and may vary slightly from the version subsequently printed in The Socialist.