TEN universities remained occupied yesterday, including an historic building at Oxford University, while a national ‘student strike’ was called for next Tuesday, November 30.
Students occupied the Radcliffe Camera in Oxford at lunchtime on Wednesday, during the National Day of Action by students against £9,000 tuition fees, the abolition of Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA) and 80 per cent cuts in teaching budgets.
A statement called on Oxford University management to support their demands.
It said: ‘We – students and residents of Oxford from a range of institutions and backgrounds – are occupying the Radcliffe Camera because we oppose all public sector cuts.
‘We stand in solidarity with those who are affected by the cuts and those who are resisting them.
‘We believe that education should be public and free for all.
‘To this end we demand that the University of Oxford reiterate its opposition to education cuts and commit to not increasing fees for any courses.
‘We also demand that the University pledge never to privatise.
‘These demands are non-negotiable.
‘We will only accept a response from the University in the form of a public statement by the Vice Chancellor to the national media.
‘The University should not pursue or support any action taken against those involved in this legitimate and peaceful form of protest.
‘We call upon other education institutions in Oxford and nationwide to publicly support these principles and demands.
‘This library is now open to all members of the public and we invite you to join us.’
A further statement added: ‘If anyone is prevented from accessing the library, we would like to make clear that this is entirely the decision of the university, in direct opposition to our express wishes.
‘We are in discussion with library staff as to how to best facilitate the continued use of the library by the public.’
Students had marched in Oxford, as towns and cities across the country saw demonstrations, occupations and walk outs by school students involving hundreds of thousands of young people.
Many students vowed to continue occupying their universities until the fight against tuition fees and savage cuts in funding is won.
As well as Oxford, students were still occupying buildings at Edinburgh, Cardiff, Newcastle, Manchester, Plymouth, Leeds, Essex and University College and SOAS in London.
At Edinburgh University, students stayed overnight in the Appleton Tower lecture building.
Students also took over a lecture theatre in Cardiff and dozens stayed put in Newcastle University’s Fine Arts building.
Calling for a national student strike next Tuesday, the Education Activist Network said: ‘Yesterday’s incredible protests organised by school, FE and university students underlined what November 10 had already shown – there is mass, deep-seated and furious opposition to the government’s education cuts.
It added: ‘The sheer number of walkouts, protests and marches yesterday, from the smallest school to most of Britain’s major cities were too numerous for the media to count.’
