Irish Education Forum; For An Alternative Education

antrophy

No longer debatable in the abstract, globalisation is now impacting on Irish education with the local face of a neo-liberal driven Irish state After the defeat of fees last year, cutbacks are being used to force college authorities into an implicit acceptance that funding will have to come from outside taxation. This is no coincidence. The World Trade Organisation's 'General Agreement on Trade In Services' has long defined public services as 'trade barriers' to be eliminated, education is no exception and Article 133 is there to speed up the whole process. Of course the business lobby are only delighted to eye up opening spaces for profit production. The only way to spin a profit from education is through commodification, and like all products the only way we can then access it is through paying.

Of course given the culture of secrecy around the formulation of these agendas, no one has bothered to consult the thousands of people who already can’t access third level such as travellers, people with disabilities, mature students, mothers and so on, the state simply seems intent to rush ahead with a business driven agenda dressed up in the rhetoric of social inclusion.

While University Heads and the OECD step up calls for the privatisation of education, USI fumbles for figures in a cash crisis which may see many officers made redundant, opening themselves up to increased scathing criticism. From the surface it could look like the student movement is up against the wall. But at the flipside, students are getting it together on the campuses with increasing success. The Boycott Coke Campaign got a new shot in the arm with victory in Trinity, and there’s a referendum on the way in Maynooth. Direct action got the goods in UCD, as library hours were restored after a campaign culminating in an overnight occupation. The national media pissed itself with excitement when it emerged McDowell had been apparently ‘assaulted’ in UCD by members of the anti-deportation campaign, UCD services told a different story; still the issues being raised by the activists remained submerged in the media warbles.

These new grass roots based movements need a forum for discussion and the promotion of grassroots activism through out Ireland. Hence the Irish Education Forum. The IEF will bring together students, trade unionists, and other activists from across Ireland to map out the Future of the Student movement in Ireland. It will be an open space for ideas with plenaries and workshops to inject some much needed ideas and energy into the movement. Plenaries will cover areas like Internationalisation, fighting cutbacks, defending education as a public service and access to education.

More information on what the Irish Education Forum is follows.

at http://www.indymedia.ie/newswire.php?story_id=63667 for updates.

Atreides

Of course given the culture of secrecy around the formulation of these agendas, no one has bothered to consult the thousands of people who already can’t access third level such as travellers, people with disabilities, mature students, mothers and so on, the state simply seems intent to rush ahead with a business driven agenda dressed up in the rhetoric of social inclusion.

Your wrong, full stop.

PHB

Funny that in my class of 16 places, out of the 4 groups you meantioned(travellers, people with disabilities, mature students, mothers) there are 3 of them :rolleyes:

antrophy

A necessary but unfortunate change has been made to the irish education forum. The Dublin bus and rail strikes are due to take place at midnight on the 17th and follow through all day on the 18th March. It would therefore not be feasible for willing participants of the forum to make it out to UCD. The plan now is to have the forum as planned on the friday from 10 am to 3pm . After this it is hoped that everyone will continue into the city centre at 4pm to have a mock auction of education outside Dublin Castle.

Stay tuned to http://www.indymedia.ie/newswire.php?story_id=63465