BY SOFIE BUCKLAND, NUS NEC (PERSONAL CAPACITY)
At this year's NUS conference, despite the left's invocation of the militant student struggles in France, the right-wing of the union succeeded in overturning NUS's policy on education funding and introduced a policy in favour of means-tested grants.
In contrast to the British student movement's failure to understand the lessons of the anti-CPE struggle, Greek students spent May and June fighting against the privatisation of their education. When the Greek student assembly declared "we're going to do what they did in France", they meant it.
This assembly grew from a wave of university occupations in response to education reforms, starting in early May with 16 departments held and spreading throughout the country until, at the peak of the mobilisation in late June, over 90% of university departments were being occupied, involving over 100,000 students. Much like in French universities, co-ordinating committees were set up, including local striking workers, to democratically control the movement. Demonstrations on 8 June and 15 June were met with violent repression by police.
Since coming to power in May 2004, the right-wing New Democracy government has followed a program of cuts, privatisation and attacks on working people under the guise of employment law reform. The latest step in the move towards the 'flexible' labour market came in the form of an attack on free education; article 16 of the Greek constitution, establishing universal, free, publicly-funded education, is to be reformed to allow privately-run universities to be recognised by the state. Further measures to transform universities into profit-making institutions include the restriction of exam re-sits and the introduction of time limits on degree courses, abolishing the flexible studying hours many students need to combine education and work. As if this wasn't indication enough of the government's intention to completely smash free education, state provision of compulsory course texts and grants for poorer students are also being withdrawn.
Perhaps the Greek government has learnt the lessons of France too; included in the education reforms is the abolition of "University Asylum", the institution which establishes freedom of speech and political expression on campuses, including the restriction of police access to universities. In light of the occupation of French campuses by student activists it's not unreasonable to suggest the Greek government is seeking to limit the ability of students to protest before bringing in further reforms.
This is certainly the attitude of Greek students; the statement of the plenary coordination meeting of the Students’ Assemblies of the Occupied Universities of Greece draws clear links between increasing casualisation and low-pay for young workers and the dismantling of free education in favour of privately-run services. This recognition that free education struggles are part of a wider fight against neoliberal reforms lead to a call on lecturers, teachers and local government workers for solidarity actions; 23 June saw a one-day strike by civil servants with many other workers joining for half a day and the Greek TUC struck in solidarity with students in Athens and Thessalonika at the end of term.
Student-worker unity and militant action have forced the government to postpone the parliamentary vote on reforms until September, hoping the summer holiday will weaken the resolve of the occupation movement to restart the fight come autumn. With five days of strike action by primary school teachers already being planned for September and student coordinations continuining to meet over the summer months, the government's tactic appears not to be undermining the movement.
"Learning the lessons" of Greece, France and other radical student mobilisations such as those in Chile does not mean paying lip-service to their struggles or making abstract propaganda for militant action. It means fighting on every campus to build a student movement capable of replicating and developing the spirit and perspectives of these movements. This is the task that Education Not for Sale sets itself.
• To get in touch with ENS, visit www.free-education.org.uk or email sofie.buckland@nus.org.uk
