To protest or not to protest

Fellow Students,

As you are hopefully aware, there has recently been a large amount of debate around the future of Higher Education funding in Britain. The Browne Report was commissioned in November 2009 to examine the different ways by which our universities could be funded. Its findings were reported back in October 2010, and are, in the opinion of the SRC, preposterous. Following the Browne Review, and alongside their brutal Comprehensive Spending Review, the coalition government in Westminster have come out proposing a drastic increase in tuition fees for students to £9,000 whilst at the same time deeply cutting funding for Universities- abolishing government funding for arts courses entirely for example. The Scottish Government legislates on Scottish Higher Education separately from Westminster, but measures adopted south of the border will be keenly felt in their repercussions here up north. If the Scottish government sits by whilst the way English Universities are funded changes there are chances of a rush by English students to take advantage of the 'cheaper' fees here, or a flood of important academics and teaching staff moving to English Universities now able to pay higher wages in certain fields. Education funding may indeed need improved, but the solution for that shouldn't come from the pockets of already debt-laden students.

The SRC have organised a bus to London this Wednesday 10th November to take part in a national demonstration to oppose these increased fees for students and cuts to goverment funding. This is the first national demonstration against these planned cuts, backed by both University students and staff alike with upwards of 20,000 people due to take part. This situation we now find ourselves facing is both unprecedented and unacceptable, and as students it's time to stand up and say so.

The bus will leave at midnight on Tuesday the 9th from outside the John MacIntyre Building (http://goo.gl/maps/yIAs), then drive to London and drop us off to protest. We'll be collected late afternoon and brought back to Glasgow for around midnight again. Tickets for the bus to come down and attend the protest are £10 and available today and tomorrow from the SRC Reception, which is upstairs in the John MacIntyre Building.

Thank you for your time. Although it's close notice, I hope you can join us on Wednesday, or if you can't make it, lend us your support on facebook at: http://www.facebook.com/glasgowuniversitysrc

Regards,


Tommy Gore

President of SRC