Over 130,000 took part in yesterday’s day of action making it the biggest wave of student protests and occupations in a generation.
Carnival of Resistance march in London – images by Feyzi Ismail, Andrew Burgin & Jon Siah | Protest in Milton Keynes – images by Anita De Klerk
School Students
Lindsey German reports from London march: “Met school students from New Vic B6, Mossbourne, Twyford, Drayton Manor, Woodhouse, Queen Elizabeth Girls’, Camden Girls’, Acland Burghley, Haverstock, Parliament Hill, Hornsey, EGA, Sutton, Westminster Kingsway, Brent…there were bands of school students marching through the West End all morning…and of course let’s not forget Goldsmiths, SOAS and all the other unis…but this is the school students’ day in London.”
Police Violence
First reports say around 20,000 on today’s march in London. Marches in Leeds (1,000), Hereford (1,000), Manchester, Bristol (2,000), Sheffield (2,500), Liverpool, Brighton (3,000), Newcastle (2,000), Durham (1,000) Cardiff (200) Exeter, Bournemouth, Milton Keynes (200) and Ipswich.
Occupations include University College London, London South Bank University, Birmingham University, Warwick University, Oxford, Strathclyde, Cardiff, Dundee, University of East London, Portsmouth, Leeds, Royal Holloway, SOAS, Manchester Metropolitan and UWE Bristol, Nottingham, University of Plymouth.
Durham
Newcastle: uprising of school and college students takes over the toon
By Tony Dowling
Up to 2000 school, college and university students from across the North East descended on Grey’s Monument in Newcastle today, as they joined the nationwide protests against the ConDem’s education cuts and the raising of tuition fees.
“Nick Clegg, shame on you… shame on you for turning blue!” chanted the students as their numbers quickly swelled to fill the assembly point – and this even before the university students had begun to join them – and an improvised march took place around Gallowgate to ease the congestion.
“Classes warned over joining fees rally,” cautioned the local press. But by midday there were over 1000 school and college students and it was clear the students’ anger at the cuts to education funding had overcome any fear of reprimands.
“The whole school’s out,” declared Lauren Kennedy from Heaton Manor School in Newcastle. “The teachers asked for a show of hands & when nearly everyone’s went up they let us go. And our headteacher’s come along to the protest too!”
Students from as far away as Haydon Bridge in Northumberland were alongside those from Gateshead and Newcastle schools and colleges. And around a hundred students arrived from Queen Elizabeth High School in rural Hexham.
“Dumbledore wouldn’t let this happen,” read Jemima Proudlock’s handwritten placard. And her friend Charlie Smith joined the ‘Harry Potter’ theme with “This wouldn’t happen at Hogwarts.”
The demonstration continued to grow and Newcastle College student Dean Grainger enthusiastically led the crowds in a chant of “They say cut back; we say fight back” as they marched off along Northumberland Street towards Newcastle Civic Centre – 2000 Newcastle Council workers face losing their jobs – to protest noisily at the LibDem council.
Many then joined the university students at a ‘teach-in’ later in the afternoon. Others protested in Eldon Square, the city’s main shopping centre. A new movement was born on the streets today.
Milton Keynes Protest
By Anita De Klerk
More than 200 students around Milton Keynes gathered at Campbell Park and marched through the City Centre in protest against the cuts to EMA and the proposed tuition fee increases, after individual schools held their own protests.
The mood was angry, but electric! The demonstration was organised amongst the students themselves, some even taking unauthorised absence and loosing their weeks EMA. One student stated, “It may not be about me, right now, but it is about the future for us all!” A student as young as 12 also commented; “…and my future!”
Clearly this illustrates the level of anger, frustration and anxiety felt by students about the future of education in the UK. Their fears need to be heard by the coalition government as they are not going to go away!
Manchester
Liverpool
Senate House, Cambridge
Parrenthorn High School in Prestwich
By Amy Hicks
Over 150 pupils walked out of Parrenthorn High School in Prestwich today. We marched towards Prestwich Village, and rallied there for over two hours. We were angry, enthusiastic, and LOUD!!
We gave out stickers saying ‘HANDS OFF OUR EMA’ “DOWN WITH BROWNE” and ‘SACK THIS, I’M GOING TO HOGWARTS’ to every pupil in the school, and by 2nd lesson a large amount of teachers were wearing them!
