NUS Vice-President warns MPs to not repeat mistakes of 2010

Hillary Gyebi-Ababio, National Union of Students (@nusuk) Vice President for Higher Education, has today (6th October) warned MPs to not repeat previous mistakes by ignoring students during this pandemic.

Speaking to a group of MPs, at an All-Party Parliamentary Group for Students meeting this morning, Hillary warned of the dangers of students being ignored again. NUS have repeatedly raised concerns with the government around the safety of students when they returned to campuses, students being locked into tenancy contracts they might no longer need, and a lack of access to online learning. Yet the government have failed to act on any of these issues.

The financial pressures on universities have forced them to focus on prioritising income over student safety, with universities encouraging students back to campus to be able to collect rent payments and now some charging students exorbitant fees for meals whilst they were forced to self-isolate.

NUS is calling for the government to take action to uphold students’ basic legal rights, give them the ability to leave their course and accommodation without financial detriment, treat them fairly during accommodation lockdowns and create an effective strategy for education now and for post-covid recovery.

Hillary Gyebi-Ababio, NUS Vice President for Higher Education, said;

“Students have been ignored time and time again during this pandemic, whether it was not providing them with hardship funding when they were in financial need or denying them the A-Level grades they deserved because this government were more concerned with grade inflation than social justice.

“And now we are in the worst of all scenarios. Students are being forced en masse to return to campuses across the UK, without adequate procedures in place to keep them safe and coronavirus infection rates rising. It seems like every day we hear a new report of a mass outbreak on a university campus. But this is not the fault of students, who have been following the advice they have been given and abiding by the rules. This is the failure of government and university leadership to keep us safe.

“I want you as MPs, and even those of us that are student leaders and students here to reflect on 2010, for a moment. Students were outside parliament marching together because they felt let down and betrayed by the government of that day. They were a generation who felt unheard, unseen and uncared for. Students today are feeling the same. They are fed up of being ignored, but now, just like in 2010, they are unmistakably fired up. Students are more politically engaged than ever and they are willing to take action to fight for the education they deserve. Students deserve better.”