A dramatic change in Higher Education

We are the students of today and we will fight for the students of tomorrow!

A dramatic change in Higher Education: Triple the Fees!

For the past three years we have been campaigning, protesting, signing petitions and voicing your student opinions to local councillors and the Government about Higher Education. You told us that you believe there should be equal opportunities and everyone should be able to come to University and study something they believe in and your fear was that it was all about to change.

On Thursday 9th December 2010, I travelled to London with students and officers from Liverpool John Moores, University of Liverpool and Hope University to be involved in the peaceful campaigning against the rise in tuition fees on a coach supported by Liverpool City Council.

We met with the Liverpool MPs inside Parliament to discuss our views and to find out from them the feeling in the House of Commons. They told us they were against the rise in Tuition fees and how it would price working and lower class people out of University. They agreed that if we wanted to do something we should lobby MPs who said they are voting for the rise in fees.

I met with my home MP Dr Alasdair McDonnell from Social Democratic Labour Party and he promised to ring on the day of the debate to arrange to meet at the Commons on that day. He did not ring and so I decided to green card him to fast track the meeting with him. Unfortunately, he did not respond to the green card. However, Mark Durkan, the Social Democratic Labour Party MP for Derry was able to be more helpful and he provided tickets into the viewing gallery to watch the debate.

Being in the viewing gallery was a very exciting and interesting for myself as an elected Officer representing LJMU students, even if once we were in we were not allowed to leave! As I watched the debate I had mixed feelings; I was angry, annoyed, frustrated (couldn’t shout through the glass as it was sound proof) agitated and then cheering and agreeing with MPs who were clearly defending the rise in tuition fees. The 2 hour debate was over in no time at all.

I watched David Cameron, Nick Clegg and Vince Cable enter the room behind each other, and then a member of each the parties stood to present a summary of the debate, after each summary, the speaker of the House of Commons addressed the house and explained about voting and where voting delegates need to go. Then the vote was over - people in the viewing gallery actually sat there and couldn’t move as they were potential in shock of what had happened and how this changed everything for the future of Higher Education. The cheer from the coalition government was outrageous...

As I left the Houses of Parliament, I could hear all the protestors chanting and shouting and sound of fireworks and police helicopters and wondered what had gone on whilst we had been inside.

I was so upset by the choice the MPs had made that, it felt so unreal, that I was leaving a bad dream. As we made our way back to the coaches for are trip home to Liverpool, no-one spoke as we were too angry and disappointed – you could see in everyone’s eyes that they knew that the future of Higher Education would change.

We are the students of today and we will fight for the students of tomorrow!