[Onthebarricades] Education protests, Dec-Jan 07/08

[Andy]

*  SRI LANKA:  Police attack student sit-in outside university; students vow 
to continue protest against fees
*  INDIA:  Students stage protest against abusive "ragging"
*  INDIA:  Protest over death of girl due to poor conditions at student 
hostel
*  NORTHERN IRELAND:  Protest calls for abolition of student fees
*  BULGARIA:  Young sciences protest education funding shortage
*  HOLLAND:  School students protest compulsory hours increase, demand 
"quality not quantity"
*  WALES:  Protest over closure of rural schools
*  INDIA:  Researchers protest for grants
*  PAKISTAN:  Urdu University students protest insecurity of university's 
future
*  UK:  Shropshire students stage protest against relocation, merger of 
college

http://news.nidahasa.com/news.php?go=fullnews&newsid=419

Heavy Traffic Jam near Colombo Town Hall as University Students Protest
10 December 2007 02:52 am
  60 views
(NIDAHASA News) Heavy traffic jam occurred in and around Town Hall - Colombo 
today (10) noon, as police used teargas to disperse a protest of university 
students.

Students of Sabaragamuwa University were staging a protest for 27 days 
opposite University Grants Commission demanding several students’ rights, 
from 12th November.
Over 10 students were arrested by police.

Struggle begun by students would not be stopped until authorities find 
solutions for students’ demands, Convener of Inter Universities Students’ 
Federation (IUSF) Duminda Nagamuwa, said to media.

http://www.sundaytimes.lk/071209/News/news0006.html

Undergrads vow to continue protest

By Isuri Kaviratne

Three university students involved in the protest outside the University 
Grants Commission (UGC) office in Colombo were arrested yesterday by Police 
who broke up the four-week long protest campaign outside the UGC, but 
students have vowed to recommence their protest tomorrow at the same 
location. The three students were produced before a magistrate and remanded 
for two weeks.

The students belonging to the JVP backed Inter University Students’ Union 
(IUSU) had been protesting about the failure of the authorities to shift one 
of the faculties of the Sabaragamuwa university from Buttala to the main 
university. Currently the faculty is located 100 kilometres away from the 
main university at Belihuloya.

IUSU convenor Duminda Nagamuwa said the ‘satyagraha’ would not stop until 
the three students were released and if the Government took any further 
action against them, the students of other universities too would join along 
with some trade unions, with whom the IUSU has had discussions. Mr. Nagamuwa 
said the students of the Applied Science Faculty left the premises in 
Buttala because they didn’t have any facilities there to study.

“Even though the Government asks the students to stop the ‘sathyagraha’, 
there is nothing else the students could do unless the university 
administration reopens the university with the Applied Science Faculty 
transferred to Belihuloya”, he said adding that the number of students at 
every intake had decreased in the past few years due to lack of facilities.

http://www.merinews.com/catFull.jsp?articleID=128360

Jammu University students stage protest against ragging
Vijay Kumar, 09 December 2007, Sunday
Views: 163    Comments: 0

A group of students were ragged by senior students in one of the hostels in 
Jammu University campus. Junior students were thrashed, paraded naked and 
later humiliated by some of the senior students. They protested against 
university administration.

A GROUP of students, who were agitated over the repeated incidents of 
ragging, ransacked office complex of vice chancellor of Jammu University 
Prof Amitabh Mattoo last Thursday. They staged protest later outside his 
chamber demanding strict actions against those students involved in ragging 
incidents. According to the report, a group of students were ragged by 
senior students in one of the hostels in Jammu University campus. Junior 
students were reportedly thrashed, paraded naked and later humiliated by 
some of the senior students. While staging protest, the students were 
unhappy with the university authorities for not taking prompt action against 
students involved in incidents of ragging happened on Wednesday night.

Agitated students alleged that the incidents of ragging were going on inside 
the hostel for past several days and the issue was brought into the notice 
of the university authorities. “On Wednesday evening also when the incident 
took place we immediately contacted our hostel warden but he refused to come 
and informed us to meet him in the morning”, students peeved over the 
delayed response told media persons outside the VC chamber amid chanting 
slogans loudly.

The victimized students alleged that they brought the matter into the notice 
of the university authorities early in the morning, yet they failed to take 
any action against the culprits. Angry over the poor response of the 
authorities, the students assembled outside the main gate of the 
administrative block and smashed windowpanes, flowerpots and wall paintings. 
Later, they staged protest outside the VC chamber and chanted slogans 
demanding action against the students responsible for the act.

University authorities reportedly made several attempts to pacify the 
agitating students but went in vain. Groups of students also clashed with 
each other exchanging hot words outside VC’s office trading charges against 
each other. Dean student welfare PS Pathania told media that university 
administration has already identified those students who were behind ragging 
incidents. “We have informed local police authorities and appropriate action 
will be taken against them soon, he added. Superintendent of Police, who 
arrived on the spot, said that University administration have been asked to 
submit a written complain against the students so that they can register an 
FIR for further action in this case.

http://www.hindu.com/2007/11/24/stories/2007112462180700.htm

Protest over student’s death
Special Correspondent
SFI flays poor conditions in welfare hostels

Nearly 40 girls staying in a single room
Drinking water contaminated and food quality is poor

VISAKHAPATNAM: The death of a girl staying at the Tribal Welfare Department’s 
hostel for girl students at MVP Colony here reportedly owing to diarrhoea 
due to poor conditions in the hostel sparked protest by students here and in 
Araku Valley on Thursday.
Students staying in the hostel have been complaining that the conditions in 
the hostel are extremely bad. Nearly 40 girls are staying in a room, the 
drinking water is contaminated and food quality poor. The overall hygiene is 
poor.
Several of them were suffering with diarrhoea for the last few days and were 
sent to a local hospital. One of the students Killo Bhagyalakshmi, studying 
first year B.Sc. in the VMC Mahila College, who had gone to her native 
village Battivalasa near Araku Valley died late on Thursday night, 
reportedly due to diarrhoea.
Warden blamed
As the news of Bhagyalakshmi’s death reached here, SFI launched a protest 
and girl students held a demonstration and organised a rasta-roko in MVP 
Colony junction demanding better facilities in the hostel. They held the 
hostel warden responsible and wanted the Government to take action against 
her. SFI’s tribal students’ wing leader Jagat said no official was concerned 
about the conditions in the hostel even after the death of Bhagyalakshmi. At 
Araku Valley also the SFI and AP Girijana Sangham held protest 
demonstrations. Bhagyalakshmi’s collegemates Chandrakala and Saraswati while 
talking to reporters at Battivalasa on Friday said they and Bhagyalakshmi 
had fallen sick and were given some medicines at the hostel.
Later, they were told to go home. They reached Battivalasa on Wednesday and 
Bhagyalakshmi’s condition became critical the next day. She died on way to 
the CHC at Araku Valley late on Thursday .

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/breaking-news/ireland/article3172409.ece

Protest in the North for abolition of student fees
Sunday, November 18, 2007
A protest against fees for third level students in the North is to take 
place outside Stormont today.
They're calling for the abolition of student fees for the province's third 
level students.
The Union of Students in Ireland says the fee system in Northern Ireland 
contributes to unacceptable levels of hardship.
The President of the USI is Hamid Khodabakhshi outlines the consequences of 
fees for students.
"At the moment the students are paying fees over the 3 or 4 years from 
€10000 up to €12,500. They go for student loans and after they've graduated 
they have to work very hard and they have to live on the breadline for a few 
years until they actually manage to pay this loan back to the government.

http://www.sofiaecho.com/article/young-bulgarian-scientists-protest-in-sofia/id_26208/catid_66

YOUNG BULGARIAN SCIENTISTS PROTEST IN SOFIA
17:03 Fri 16 Nov 2007 - Spasena Baramova

Photo: Georgi Kozhouharov
On November 16 young Bulgarian scientists protested in Sofia against the 
lack of funds in science and education, Bulgarian National Radio BNR 
reported.
About 50 people organised a symbolic procession to protest against the 
education and science funds percentage in Budget 2008. According to them 
Bulgaria had the lowest number of scientists per capita in the EU – 2.8 per 
1000. In Finland, for example, there are more than 13 scientists per 1000 
population.
The protest was organised by the movement of young scientists who, at the 
beginning of the procession, distributed a letter addressed to the movement 
by the European Commissioner for Science and Research Janez Potočnik, BNR 
said.
The letter said that Bulgaria had a good basis and traditions in the field 
of science and research but, like in many other European countries, 
scientific research did not have sufficient funds. Potočnik said the 
authorities had to pay attention to mobility, modernisation of research 
infrastructure and the strengthening of the research potential.

http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=24&art_id=nw20071129135404939C518253

Dutch pupils protest more school hours

    November 29 2007 at 03:16PM

Amsterdam - Dutch pupils said that protests scheduled for Friday against 
longer hours at school would go ahead as planned.

Sywert van Lienden, the 17-year-old chairman of the Dutch high school 
pupils' association LAKS, has called upon all Dutch high school pupils to 
convene at the Museumplein.

The Museumplein is the great lawn between the Concertgebouw and the 
Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam.

Speaking to reporters on Thursday, Van Lienden says he is expecting tens of 
thousands of students to come to Amsterdam. The LAKS has taken special 
precautionary measures to prevent rioting.

'Quality, not quantity is our first priority'
During previous protests in several cities, protests turned into violent 
rioting.

Dutch high school pupils have been protesting in the past 10 days the 
government education policy of fining schools who did not provide a minimum 
of 1 040 hours of education to each pupil.

Dutch schools have been obliged in the past years to provide this minimum 
amount of classes, replacing the previous minimum of 960 hours per year.

The pupils want go back to the previous 960-hour minimum. They claim schools 
fulfil their 1,040 hour teaching obligation primarily by forcing pupils to 
remain on the school premises without providing extra classes.

The LAKS says most schools have neither the funding nor the teaching staff 
required to comply with the governmental policies.

The organisation also claims many schools do not even have the means to 
provide 960 hours of proper teaching.

This is partly due to a lack of financial means, but also to the scarcity of 
teaching personnel, they say.

"Quality, not quantity is our first priority," LAKS chairman Van Lienden 
said. "The government should focus on the teaching quality as well."

Following a multi-decade drop in Dutch teaching salaries and increased 
governmental interference in school teaching, taking away teachers' autonomy 
and freedom, many schools lack teaching staff.

Many qualified teachers have switched to other professions, while teaching 
academies have been receiving fewer and fewer new students in recent years.

LAKS representatives met several times this week with officials of the 
Education Ministry, including Deputy Education Minster Marja van 
Bijsterveldt.

Neither the meetings nor Wednesday's parliamentary debate about the subject 
bore any results. - Sapa-DPA

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/wales/south_west/7136216.stm

Protest at rural schools closure

The council's executive board met at county hall on Monday
Two schools in rural Carmarthenshire will shut for the last time next summer 
despite protests by parents and pupils.
Objectors gathered outside county hall as members of the council's executive 
board met to discuss closing Llanarthne and Llansadwrn primary schools.
Parents said the schools played a vital role in village life and provided 
good standards of education.
But the council said both had falling pupil numbers and the cost per head 
was no longer financially viable.
The changes are part of the council's 10-year modernising education 
programme that could see up to 32 schools closed with new facilities 
provided at other sites as part of a £122m investment in education.
But Gareth Martin, a parent governor at Llanarthne, said closing the school 
would be another blow for the village after its main shop shut.
"The school is the heart of the community," he said.
He said the council had not taken parents' views into account and children 
would have to travel more than four miles each day to an alternative school.
"Llanarthne is a newish school, it's not an old Victorian building. The 
standard of teaching is good," he added.
Protesters were supported by members of Cymdeithas yr Iaith Gymraeg (the 
Welsh Language Society).
But executive board member Ieuan Jones said the cost of educating pupils in 
some small schools was more than three times that of larger ones.
"We are trying to give the same chance in education to all our children," he 
added.

http://www.hindu.com/2007/12/02/stories/2007120258870300.htm

DU researchers on protest
NEW DELHI: Members of the Delhi University Researchers’ Coordination 
Committee began an indefinite protest outside the Vice-Chancellor’s Office 
here on Friday demanding implementation of the University Grants Commission 
scholarships scheme for research scholars.
They have also been demanding revival of the Delhi University Researchers’ 
Association.
“We have approached everyone from the UGC to the Union Human Resource 
Development Ministry but till now no process has been initiated to implement 
these scholarships,” said Vipul Pachori, coordinator of the committee, on 
Saturday.

http://www.hindu.com/2007/12/09/stories/2007120956160300.htm

Protest for UGC fellowships continues

Staff Reporter

NEW DELHI: As their protest demonstration to press their demand for 
University Grants Commission fellowships for research scholars entered its 
ninth day on Saturday, Delhi University Researchers’ Coordination Committee 
members claimed that there had been no move from the administration to 
initiate a dialogue with them.

“The UGC fellowships were to be made available from December 2006. It has 
been a year so far and nothing has been done by the Delhi University 
administration to start the process of implementing these scholarships,” 
said Committee coordinator Vipul Pachori.

“When we met Vice-Chancellor Deepak Pental a couple of months ago, we were 
verbally assured that the process will be initiated on October 16, but in 
vain. When a delegation of research scholars met the authorities on Friday, 
they warned that police action will be taken against those staging a 
 dharna,” he alleged.

The Committee has been protesting outside the Vice-Chancellor’s office since 
November 30.

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2007%5C12%5C14%5Cstory_14-12-2007_pg11_8

Urdu University students continue protest

ISLAMABAD: Unavailability of teachers in the department of engineering in 
The Federal Urdu University of Arts, Science and Technology has provoked 
students to continue boycott of classes for the eighth consecutive day on 
Thursday.

Dozens of students staged a protest on campus. They carried placards reading 
‘save our future’, ‘appoint permanent VC’, ‘ensure permanent faculty’ and 
‘get accreditation from the Pakistan Engineering Council (PEC)’.

They vowed to protest until their demands were met. They said the PEC board 
had asked the university to induct new teachers to take classes. They said 
the PEC wanted to cancel the one-year on-probation accreditation of the 
university because it had failed to appoint the required faculty. The 
university officials told Daily Times that private sector universities 
offered more salaries to qualified faculty than public sector universities 
so the teachers were attracted towards the private sector universities.

They said they had to go through a long process to induct teachers. They 
said 15 teachers were required for the Engineering Department and the 
university would induct 10 teachers initially. They said the university’s 
labs were well equipped and new books worth Rs 200,000 had been added to the 
library. Students, on the other hand, said the administration was deceiving 
them by presenting excuses about the accreditation of the university by the 
PEC. They said their future was at stake since their course ends next June 
but the administration could not get the university accredited with the PEC.

They said no one will accept their degrees without the university’s 
accreditation by the PEC. They said the absence of a permanent VC was 
another cause of concern for them. They said Higher Education Commission 
(HEC) Executive Director Dr Sohail H Naqvi had informed a student delegation 
that he could not help release funds for the university, as it had no 
permanent VC. University’s Finance Director Abdul Aleem claimed that the 
administration will soon advertise posts for teachers. The engineering 
department head confirmed that the PEC was reluctant to accredit the 
university due to lack of faculty. staff report

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/shropshire/7155202.stm

Student protest at college move

The students were joined by Conservative MP Daniel Kawczynski

Shropshire students are staging a protest march against £60m plans to move 
their college.

An application has been submitted to relocate Shrewsbury Sixth Form College 
to London Road, on the same site as the college of arts and technology.

The two institutions would "co-locate" on a large new campus, but many 
students and staff are against it.

Conservative MP Daniel Kawczynski joined the students on the march, which 
started at the Quarry at 1130 GMT.

Students claim they have been told they could face disciplinary action if 
they miss lessons to take part.

The Learning and Skills Council is providing most of the funding to pay for 
the controversial combined campus.