Newsletter Number 8 of the European Education Is Not For Sale Network.
February 18 th, 2002

In this newsletter:
1. The mobilisation for the upcoming protests in the Spanish cities Salamanca and Sevilla and reports on local protests across Europe and Canada;
2. The World Bank and public services (education);
3. GATS negotiations.

1. The mobilisation for the upcoming protests in the Spanish cities Salamanca and Sevilla and reports on local protests across Europe and Canada

Introduction

It`s more than a month ago since pupils and students in several European countries went on the streets to protest against the
privatisation of education and the GATS-treaty.  The week of protests was a big success with protests in Denmark, The Netherlands, Belgium, France, Spain, Italy, Germany, Switzerland, Greece  and in Austria.  At the end of the week a lot of students joined the international demonstration in Brussels during the EU summit. This year we have to intensify the protests and work further on building the European network.  The working group will start to work on a platform text which should be finished and discussed in the several countries and at the international meetings in Salamanca (March 2002) and in Sevilla (June 2002).  Very good news is the fact that the Dutch and the Danish governments are under growing pressure and that they have already withdrawn some of the proposals.  But, of course, the main line of these governments is still the same.  Bad news is that the Spanish government asked the EU governments to define globalisation-critics as "terrorists", as we are protesting against the GATS-treaty it could be that the EU governments could define student activists as "terrorists" as well.  Spain has the EU Presidency at the moment.

European Protests:

This year 3 big European students' protests are planned so far: one during the EU Summit in Sevilla, Spain (June 2002); and one during
the EU summit in Copenhagen, Denmark (December 2002).  We don`t have a call yet for the upcoming protests in Sevilla and Copenhagen but we know people are working hard on it. In Sevilla there will be a number of demonstrations and other forms of protest and the second international student and pupil meeting will take place in order to speak about future actions and the mobilisation for Copenhagen.  Austrian students have proposed to organise protests during the WEF Summit in Salzburg, Austria (September 2002).

In March 2002 there will also an international mobilisation:

Protest at the EU Education Ministers' Summit in Salamanca, Spain, in March 2002!

The "Asamblea de Salamanca contra la lou" (Salamanca Committee Against the Lou*), together with the (Spanish) State Assembly of the Student Movement has called a European Assembly of Students Against the Lou*, to coincide with the visit of EU Education and Culture Ministers in March 2002.

An extensive discussion forum about the present situation and a mass demonstration to reply to the Lou* have been called.

The "Plataforma otro mundo es posible" (Another World Is Possible group), in association with the Spanish State Campaign Against
Capitalist Europe, are also organising a wide range of events, provisionally coming under the umbrella title "Social Forum Against
the Educational Policies of the Eu",including a number of pickets, conferences, non-violent direct actions and three demonstrations, to be held on the 17th, 18th and 19th March.

*The "Lou" is a proposed law, the "Ley Organica de Universidades", whose aim is to essentially privatise the Spanish higher education
system, to increase the involvement of business in universities, to forcecontracting-out of services inside the education system (security, office duties, cleaning, etc.), and to reduce the levels of democracy (student representation) inside universities.

For more information about the "Lou", see
http://int-protest-action.tripod.com/id77_m.htm

Protests in Spain:

Sevilla   
At February 6 (4.30 am), 7 vans of the national police, 2 from the local police,  11 police patrols, and 3 city-cleaning trucks have ended the camping protest.

There were no discussions, instead the police forced the students to  leave when they were sleeping (after waking them up), allowing them to get only their bags that were closest to their hands and then removing all other possessions, amassing it into the city-cleaning
trucks. It wasn`t possible to decide to resist.

At 5.30 am there wasn't anything left.  Only some bags.  We don't know if we will be able to retrieve all cooking things, the tents, the books, the tables, the chairs...

All this time the City Council and the Government Delegation were blaming each other about who is responsible for this eviction.

At February 12 the police arrested 15 students in Sevilla. They were released again at the evening of February 14. But all of these students have been prohibited of their rights as university students by means of the drastic and indefinite suspension of their academic records. They are thrown out and are not allowed to come to their courses anymore! The students of sevilla ask for international solidarity and for that protests are being planned in Copenhagen and Berlin (website with detailed information: http://int-protest-action.tripod.com ). They also ask people to send protest and solidarity faxes. ( More information on: http://www.antilou.org/index.php?newlang=eng )

Write to the students of Sevilla giving your support!!
e-mail: rafajh@hotmail.com

solidarity Demonstrations  in solidarity with the spanish students fighting against the LOU, and the imprisonment and harassment of student activists:

Germany, Berlin: Manifestation in front of the Spanish embassy in Berlin at the 20th February, 13h. Meetingpoint: schöneberger ufer 89-91, u-bhf mendelsohn-bartholdy-park

Denmark, Copenhagen:   The demonstration will take place on the 28th of February at the spanish embassy in Copenhagen

The State-wide Platform of Student Movement (Coordinadora Estatal de Movimiento Estudiantil -CEME-), wich groups student assemblies of more than 15 spanish Universities proposes to call to February 26 A DEMONSTRATION OF REFUSAL AGAINST THE STUDENT REPRESSION IN FRONT OF THE UNIVERSITY RECTORISHIPS

Denmark:

On the 7th of February 25,000 pupils and students demonstrated in 4 major cities against the planned education budget cuts.  In
Copenhagen alone 15,000 were on the street to protest.  The demonstrations were a big success, the pupil and student movements
were united and the media was on our side.  Despite a  media-stunt by the government (withdrawing some of the proposed cuts), there are still major cuts in education are still planned - and therefore our fight still continues.  

The new neo-liberal government has a majority in Parliament to make budget cuts of 15% in the education sector within the next 3 years, furthermore they are letting 6,000 extra students (that's a lot in Denmark) into the system without extra funding.  The government had also proposed to cut funding of scientific research by 6%, which is an invitation to the multinational companies to get the scientific research results they need.  But they didn`t succeed, under pressure of massive protests the government took back the proposal. But the danger is not over yet.  All the proposals of the new government are pure neoliberal policies - educational, social, and environmental projects, aid to developing countries, workers' rights and security, the integration of ethnic minorities and political refugees and the work with human rights are not prioritised for or have their state funding decreased.  In other words all that doesn't generate profit is not prioritised (less money).

Solidarity - mails can be send to pls@p-l-s.dk

solidarity Demonstration  in solidarity with the spanish students fighting against the LOU, and the imprisonment and harassment of student activists:

Denmark, Copenhagen:   The demonstration will take place on the 28th of February at the spanish embassy in Copenhagen

Germany:

In Frankfurt am Main students protested from January 21st-28th. They occupied a university building and organised alternative courses and a demonstration.

In Wuppertal there was a demonstration of students and pupils against the commercialisation of education on January 28th.  Between January 27th and February 1st students occupied a university building. Throughout the week student activists went into lectures and seminars and explained to fellow students about what the commercialisation of education will "bring" them (for instance tuition fees).  They also did a lot of actions like symbolically asking for entrance-fees at the door of the lecture theatres or seminar rooms, and short
blockades.  In the weeks before the protest week there where several small actions as a kind of warming-up.  There was also a relatively heavy police-action when a few students painted slogans against the commercialisation of education on a road near the university.  3 people where held for about an hour and where forbidden to come within 1km of the road concerned.

In Berlin, there where actions at the FU (Free University) on January 16th - 17th.

In Duisburg and Essen students are protesting against the merger of the universities in these cities.  The universities won`t allow
elected representatives of the students to follow the ongoing negotiations.  They don`t tell them anything about what`s happening
exactly.  Students blocked the entrance of the Duisburg university on February 16th.

There where also actions in Bielefeld, Mainz, Halle an der Saale and some other towns.

solidarity Demonstration  in solidarity with the spanish students fighting against the LOU, and the imprisonment and harassment of student activists:

Germany, Berlin: Manifestation in front of the Spanish embassy in Berlin at the 20th February, 13h. Meetingpoint: schöneberger ufer 89-91, u-bhf mendelsohn-bartholdy-park

Netherlands:

At the New Year's reception at the University of Utrecht students took the microphone to read a declaration about the commercialisation of education to the audience.  There was a demonstration in Den Haag and the Dutch government implemented the Bachelor/Master degrees.  Good news is that for now the parliament didn`t agree to the proposal for tuition fees for a master degree.

Italy:

In Italy students and pupils are planning another day of action against the privatisation of education in February.

United Kingdom:

The National Union of Students (NUS) has called a demonstration for February 20th in London against tuition fees.  The NUS "hopes" for a turnout of 25,000.

Tuition fees (in England, Scotland and in Northern Ireland) are currently set at £1,075 a year (1,700 Euro) and as we live on student
loans, most students graduate with a debt of about £13,000 (21,000 Euro) - after three years of study! - which we then pay back (plus
interest) to the government's Student Loans Company.

Tuition fees were introduced in the whole of the UK in 1997 by the "Labour" government, but after the formation and election of a
Scottish Parliament two years later, they were abolished in Scotland - but only for those born in Scotland and for other EU citizens (but
not for those born in England, Wales or in Northern Ireland, who still have to pay!).  In Scotland, fees have been replaced with a
graduate tax, which is little better, shifting the cost of education from the undergraduate to the graduate.  

(Other "foreigners" from outside the EU have to pay exorbitant tuition fees to study in Britain, through these fees the universities
fill in the funding gaps left by central government.)

When tuition fees were introduced in 1997, as the first policy of Blair's "New Labour" government, student maintenance grants were also abolished.  These grants, on which students once upon a time (up to the election of Margaret Thatcher in 1979) could live, were basically a pittance by 1997, and were combined with the student loan from the mid-1980s.

The complete abolition of grants and the introduction of fees was much worse than a simple continuation of Thatcher's and Major's
Conservative policies.  A Conservative government could never have got away with such an attack on an important sector in one stroke, if  at all.  But as "Labour" - supported by the Labour Students leadership of the NUS - were carrying out these cuts, the opposition
was sadly minimal.  

Yes, the National Union of Students, which is meant to represent students' interests, called on the government to abolish grants!  The
NUS leadership were willing to do anything to secure a place as one of "Tony's cronies" in Parliament (the past x NUS Presidents are all Labour MPs), and they sold out students' interests for their careers.  They decided that the long-standing NUS policy to abolish loans and to reintroduce grants at 1979 levels, and to allow students to claim state benefits as used to be the case, was "unrealistic" and even "a revolutionary demand"!

They got neo-liberal "new-realism" through the NUS Conference but in 1999 the left candidate for President, Kate Buckell of the Campaign for Free Education, managed to get only 18 votes less than the Blairite candidate, which is the best result the left has had for
years.  

The CFE is the group in NUS which has, since the "modernisers" began to talk "realism" in 1995, led the fight to reclaim the union as a
fighting organisation for students interests.  This included calling a number of successful demonstrations in London and elsewhere for
grants, and against fees, and organising non-payment campaigns, as the NUS would not do so.  

As a result the NUS eventually changed its policy and last year called a demonstration against fees.

If the NUS leadership seriously meant fighting the government on fees, they would do a lot more than call a demo in London once a
year.  And they could "hope" to get more than 25,000 demonstrators.  They don't seem to realise that you have to build demonstrations and organise transport to them, which the NUS could easily do - if the leadership wanted to- , as it has a great deal of money.   They call these demonstrations to give themselves a "left face" before NUS Conference.
The government are though under pressure and Blair is on the run.  A year ago the government announced a review of student financial
support across the UK.  However there appears little commitment to a free state-funded education in the government.  The fact is they want 50% of all 18 year-olds to go to uni, but working class students are discouraged by the debt they will build up (the loan itself is not
enough anyway - students have to borrow loads from the bank too) and the fees they have to pay.  The government are also privatising whole local education authorities (who run schools) if they deem that they are "failing".  For Blair and Co., the market rules.

The NUS is still dominated by Labour Students but the most of the left-wing has again formed a coalition (United for Free Education)
that is helping to reduce the Labour hold.

We have to keep pushing and we need to continue to link up with the education and other trade unions, and their members, in favour of our demands (e.g. the national railway workers' union RMT is affiliated to the CFE).  

Education is a right, not a privilege.  We are against a graduate tax and means testing.  It stigmatises poverty and means that thousands of students simply don't get the money they need.

The only way to extend access to university, ensure adequate financial support for all students and guarantee freedom of choice is
a full grant for every student.  Those with higher incomes should pay more, but through progressive taxation.  A tax on wealth rather than a tax on education.  That way, wealthy families will contribute not just to their own children's education, but to everyone's.

Meeting point for the demonstration: ULU (University of London Union), Malet St., Euston at 11am, February 20th 2002.

Emails of support to the Campaign for Free Education:
grantsnotfees@yahoo.co.uk

Contact the CFE at PO Box 22615, London N4 1WT, England. grantsnotfees@yahoo.co.uk

Belgium:

At the French-language University of Brussels (ULB) there were elections for the students' parliament and the leftwing student group
"Dispense à 12" received 56% of the votes.  More than 50% of the students voted, which is a lot.  Most people of "Dispense à 12" took
part in the demonstrations during the EU summit in Brussels (December 2001).  They organised a massive election campaign, went into courses and talked with the students.  The ULB students in the past often voted in the majority for a neo-liberal student group.  The group wich has the majority now organised a lot of protests against the commercialisation of education and was also active in the legal teams of D14.

Canada:

On February 21 a demonstration will be held in Quebec City, against neoliberal reforms in education and against the subjection of
education to market laws.  Organised by the students' union "Association pour une solidarité syndicale étudiante" (ASSÉ)

Web site (in french): http://www.asse-solidarite.qc.ca/


Newsletter Number 7, 28. December 2001.

In this newsletter we give you an overview about the student- and pupilactions that took place during the protestweek. Not all the actions are listed but it`s enough to get a feeling about the scale of the actions. You can also read an article about how the actions went and future actions and the build-up of an European network...

Germany

In Germany there where strikes at the universities in Berlin, Halle and Augsburg. The FU ("Free University")in Berlin wich was occupied, was evicted twice by the German police and a lot of students are charged with "disturbance of domestic peace" and some students are also charged because the police claim that they where insulted (More information on our website and in German http://www.astafu.de ). The strike started at 11.12.2001 and ended at Monday 18.12.2001. A day of action at the FU Berlin is scheduled for January 16. Several actions took place in berlin and there where 3 demonstrations. In the city of Halle there was a strike from December 11 until December 14. There was an occupation for four days as well. On Friday December 14 there was a demonstration of 1500 puils and students in Halle. In the city of Augsburg students started a strike at December 12 and their strike will continue until christmas. In the city of Bochum students blocked the university entrance symbolicly by a wall of cartons and they disrubted a senatmeeting. On December 11 there was a demonstration of about 300 - 400 students and pupils in the citycenter of Bochum. At december 20 there will be a warning-strike at the university of Bochum. There where also protests in Bremen, Munic, Cologn, Wiesbaden, Cottbus, Potsdam, Frankfurt, Munster, Kassel and Tübingen. At a lot of universities and schools there where alternative hearings and lessons about the GATS-treaty.

Greece

In Greece there where protests at the university of Athens, Thessaloniki and Patras. In Patras there was astrike from Wednesday 12.12.2001 untill Monday 17.12.2001. At least 4 university buildings where occupied during this time. In Thessaloniki there where occupations of university-buildings and  the Theatreschool was being occupied. At December 14th there was a demonstration in Thessaloniki. In Athens some universitybuildings where occupied as well. We have information that there where strikes at 15 schools and univerities in Greece.
Griechenland

Spain

In Spain more than 140.000 students where on strike at 12.12.2001. There where a lot of demonstrations in several spanish cities with tens of thousands students participating. In Spain students are mobilising for the Salamaca summit in March 2002 (See our website - Adress below)

Italy

In Italy there where  studentdemonstrations in Milano, Trieste and brescia. At december 20 about 100.000 students and pupils demonstrated against the privatisation of education in Rom.

Belgium

In Brussels the ULB (French speaking university of Brussels)was on strike between december 1o and December 14. Lots of other schools and universities in Belgium where on strike at December 13 and December 14. There where many alternative lessons and hearings about the Bologna-process and the GATS-treaty.
At december 13 hundreds of students marched in a studentblock at the workersunion demonstration in brussels.

Sweden

At the Södra Latin school in Stockholm there was an alternative hearing/meeting about GATS and a new union was founded. In Luleå and Hässleholm there where manifestations.

Denmark

In Denmark there where 3 demonstrations (in Aarhus, Copenhagen and Odenske). The danish students are also preparing for actions during the EU summit in Copenhagen at December 2002.
Denemarken

France

In montpellier students changed the names of the university buildings in "Bill Gates building", Nike university etc. During the whole week there where actions in Montpellier and other cities like for instance Caen.  

Austria

In Austria there was an action at the university of Innsbruck

Netherlands

In the Netherlands students of the university of Utrecht removed all advertising fom the university and put their own text about the commercialisation of education on the billboards.

Switzerland

In Zurich students blocked the entrance of the university with a sitdown action.

December 14: Demonstration in Brussels.

At December 14 more than 25.000 people demonstrated in Brussels who where marching in several blocks. Communists, anarchists, ATTAC and also several studentblocks. Several? Yes several... There was ablock of German and Danish students, a block with Greec students, a block with French students etc. The demonstration was loud and in the block where i was, the students where very loud to: "Education not for sale - people not profit!". It was a shame that the police had ordered policemen in front of the demo who told locals to go of the streets because a very dangerous demo was coming... Because of this and because the original demoroute was forbidden we marched through streets who where almost empty. At the end the demo was surrounded by policeforces at "tout le taxi" . Thousands of people where not allowed to leave and so the police changed "Tout le Taxi" for a few hours into a prison. A few stones where throwen... Two of us where about half an hour before the police surrounded "Tout Le Taxi" on the street and you could already see that something would happen. The Belgium police suddenly started to push people  back in full robocop riot gear although nothing happened at this time, so there was no need for this police action. This was about 200 - 300 meters away from "Tout le Taxi". A lot of this people just wanted to go home. Personally i became the feeling that they needed a few pictures for the media of black blockers throwing rocks etc (So the coverage wouldn`t be about our goals but instead about riots). But to conclude this short reoprt: the demo gave me a lot of energy and i will continue... and a lot of people that i have spoken had the same feeling.

How it went and problems by the organisation

In the evening the pressconference couldn`t take place because the people of the mediagroup where among the thousands that where held at "Tout le Taxi" by the police. Bu we made it to the international student meeting. At the meeting we installed a working group who will write a platformtext (More about the meeting with students from Austria, Belgium, UK, Netherlands, Germany, Greece and France at our website - Adress below)

In our view it was a succesful week of protests  with a lot of actions in various EU countries and it gave a lot os students and pupils new energy. We are not at the end, we are at the beginning of a long and hard battle against the EU governments, transnational corporations and their instruments like the EU and the WTO (World Trade Organisation) who are still working at tretia like GATS in order to commercialise education even more. It was an important and good step to internationalize our resistance and to make it more political (Although it`s not completly new: some other groups did this before). And there are more groups who are sharing this view with us.

The Asta Munic (Studentrepresentatives of the Munic university, Germany) wrote at the beginning of December: "Different like during the students protests in 1997/1998 the present protests have a political note. The demands where reduced (they mean 1997/1998) to : "We want better education in better organised education institutions", today the society system is being made responsible for the missery: "Education is not a product", "Against privatisation", "Education, not war" are the slogans where worker unions and the anti-globalisation movement could indentify with as well. This could give everything a totaly new quality".

We ( the international students- and pupils movement) are still with relativly small numbers but we are growing rapidly. We are receiving still lots of new mail from new groups and we can also achieve a lot by creative actions in order to give the resistance at schools and universities new energy.

But we also have to improve a lot. It was a hell of a job to organise the international network and all the practical work was being done by ony a few people. A lot of students and pupils where ofcourse activly involved and made extra hours at their local school or university, but we need a network wich is functioning better so every-one has an overview about what is happening elswhere.

The discussion about a future call for action is starting now in the working group of the network and it will be in a kind of platformtext as well. We hope that it will make our future calls better. We want to discuss this all with the various groups at the universities and schools in the different countries in spring 2002 and than vote about it during the Sevilla-summit in June 2002. The working goup should also discuss koordination, organisation, "who is doing what" by protests in the future so the things below will go better in the future.

The mediagroup must be better organised in the future. A lot of information about the protests didn`t arrive at all or very late. There was also not enough communication inside the mediagroup. These are not "who is to blame" accusations, i was a member of the mediagroup myself and know that we didn`t had enough time to prepare ourselves. We have to discuss a lot about this in the working group.

The organisation of a students block in Salamanca (March 2002) and Sevilla (June 2002) must and will be better organised. In Spain we have more possibilities because local studentgroups are part of the organisation of the protests. In Salamanca the Asamblea de salamanca contra la LOU and the Observatorio Global de Salamanca are organising 3 days of protest from March 17-19 2002 and a countersummit about education and culture during the meeting of the ministers of culture. In Brussels we where with only 4 people to organise the studentblock and it was far to much work for us. It is the most important reason that a lot of people didn`t find the studentblock. But the informationtelephone wich was anounced at the mailinglist and our website wasn`t used very good as well. Only people from D14 (Brussels) and students from bochum (Germany) used it and they found the studentblock at the demonstration.

Protests in the future

A lot of students made it very clear that they want to continue the protests. The Danish studentunion "National Organisation of Pedagogical Social Education Students" want to prepare protests during the EU summit in Copenhagen (December 2002) and we already wrote something about the upcoming protests in Salamanca and Sevilla. In Italy there where protests at December 20 against the privatisation of education and in the German city of Augsburg there was an extention of the strike untill christmas. In the German city of Bochum there was a warning strike at the university at deecmber 20 and in berlin students are mobilising for a day of action at January 16.  We think it would be good if we continue to act at a local and international level. Beside the propsals from Spain and Denmark where we would like to see a decentral week of protests with demonstrations, strikes and lots of creative actions across Europe, i would peronnaly suggest an extra international day of protest to show that we won`t allow that our agenda is dictated by ministerial meetings. We can and will protest anytime and everywhere we want to.

We have a lot to do, let`s start working!

We= the 4 people who prepared the studentblock for brussels
I= a student from Dortmund (Germany)

Contact:
 eustudenten@gmx.net

Mailinglists:
English:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/international-pupil-and-studentactions

German:
http://de.groups.yahoo.com/group/int-schueler-und-studentenaktionen

Dutch:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/int-scholieren-en-studentenakties

Website about the upcoming protests in Salamanca:
http://www.geocities.com/observaglobal/