This collective takes 'free education' as its fundamental principle and aim - free in the sense of 'free at the point of delivery', and in the need to liberate education from market values. The university sector is in crisis; we face massive and punitive cuts to funding that will radically and qualitatively change the nature of higher education's funding provision, the sociological profile of undergraduates and lecturers in favour of the privileged, and, ultimately, the intellectual capacity and preoccupations of the academy itself. Intellectual and creative impoverishment is as much a danger as financial impoverishment.
Let us learn a lesson from the architects of this disaster - advocates of austerity measures for the people and tax breaks for the rich believe that a good crisis should never be allowed to go to waste because crises are opportunities to restructure society to benefit themselves at the expense of the vast majority of people. At a time when things we have taken for granted are threatened we have an opportunity to think about what we need from education, and from public services in general. That is why this collective complements its campaign to defeat cuts to our public services with a series of alternative of lectures and discussion.
See the schedule page for a list of upcoming meetings and talks.
