Occupying for free education

Submitted by Matthew on 8 April, 2015 - 11:22 Author: Andy Warren

Inspired by and in solidarity with occupations at LSE and UAL [University of the Arts London], we, an autonomous group of students at Kings College London, have been occupying the Council Room since Wednesday 25 March in protest at the undemocratic marketisation of our institution.

KCL is run in line with the neo-liberal consensus on education, that it is a commodity to be quantified and organised according to market fundamentalist principles. We believe in free education accessible to all and demand greater accountability and democratic involvement by students and workers.

Other key demands include fair pay and equal rights for all outsourced workers at KCL, divestment from fossil fuel and tobacco companies, liberation and representation for marginalised groups, transparency and accessibility.

After moving in on Wednesday morning, we barricaded the door and established the KCL campus of the Free University of London. The room filled with dissenting voices and colourful banners. Morale has been high ever since and messages of solidarity have flown in from occupations from Goldsmiths and LSE to Amsterdam and Geneva. After crashing from sugar lows, we’ve learnt that oranges are key to a successful occupation.

We have been using the space to run workshops on how we want our university to be run and more broadly what kind of society we want to live in. Union members and cleaners from the Tres Cosas campaign spoke about their struggle for sick pay, holidays and pensions, and representatives from Student not Suspect ran a workshop about the Counter-Terrorism Bill, which legally obliges staff members to report signs of “radicalisation”. Decisions have been democratically taken in consultation with relevant groups, and we have had students and staff coming in and out bringing necessary voices to the struggle.

Education is a social good that should be available to all. We reject the financial imperatives that distort education and the top-down and bureaucratic decision-making that come hand in hand.

Free speech and academic creativity is being stunted, and we stand in solidarity with all students and workers that oppose this destructive ideology and fight for liberation, free speech, democracy and decent working conditions.

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