This cold December morning, as I sit down to write, I see the crowd outside Durham University. Some are carrying Thermos flasks.
You might mistake it for something rather festive and jolly, if it weren’t for the shouty slogans on the signs they angrily wave. One reads: ‘I’d rather be teaching.’
To which it’s tempting to respond: ‘Then why aren’t you?’
The answer is that some university lecturers appear determined to put their own agenda before what should be their primary role of educating students – paying students, let’s not forget.
Lecturers at 58 UK universities have again taken to the streets under the banner of University and College Union, striking for three consecutive days in protest against the lack of pay and conditions, as well as the loss and reductions in pension packages.
This December day is cold and I’m writing. I can see the crowd outside Durham University. Some are carrying Thermos Flasks.
Meanwhile, students like me are caught in the middle – the collateral damage of a row that should be between employers and employees.
And let’s not forget: we have already had our education severely disrupted by the pandemic for nearly two years.
As schoolchildren, many of us have endured months of online learning with limited success and passed exams on subjects we were unable to understand.
Many people are facing even more personal problems, like mental health problems from isolation, repeated lockdowns, and stress when trying to learn with no guidance, leadership, support, or peer support.
One in three students in their first year of university suffers from depression and anxiety, according to research published this week by the British Medical Journal.
The answer is that some university lecturers appear determined to put their own agenda before what should be their primary role of educating students – paying students, let’s not forget
My university years are precious to me – because they are so hard-won. I became homeless at 16 and spent my sixth form years surfing people’s sofas, working three minimum-wage jobs to support myself, often not sure where the next meal was coming from.
I was encouraged and supported by brilliant teachers to achieve the highest A-levels.
They did laundry for me and provided a place to sleep and shower. Most importantly they encouraged me to attend university.
My degree was my ticket to freedom from poverty, they knew.
But now it feels that this is being jeopardised – snatched away by some of the very people who are meant to deliver it.
It’s like being thrown in the face. It’s a resounding slap in the face for everyone who has worked so hard to get to university only to discover that lecturers put their agendas above those of young students they were paid to teach.
On the one hand, students are treated as consumers, courted with glossy brochures promising high quality teaching – courtesy of loans that will take decades to repay, if at all.
My debt will total around £50,000 by the time I graduate.
Our assets are viewed as assets that can be exploited. All that was promised of high-quality in-person instruction, tutorials, and seminars where we could exchange ideas, debate and grow our minds, were quickly abandoned.
And it’s not just because of Covid. Since 2018, students have been affected by strikes every year.
Are lecturers unaware of how harmful this can be? Are they just not aware of the dangers?
My law studies would normally involve many lectures, tutorials, and seminars. But due to ‘Covid restrictions’ the majority of my teaching still remains online. Why?
Meanwhile, students like me are caught in the middle – the collateral damage of a row that should be between employers and employees
Lecturers at 58 Universities across Britain are striking again under the banner of University and College Union. They have been on strike for 3 days demanding improvements in their pay, working conditions, and pension benefits.
There are currently no national legal limits on the numbers allowed to gather inside – and in most workplaces people have returned to their pre-Covid levels.
My university still has not explained why they have to comply with rules other than those in the rest.
And if it isn’t Covid or protests over pensions and pay that are ripping away our education, it’s political point-scoring and ideology.
In June this year, 150 dons refused to teach students at Oxford University’s Oriel College in protest at the decision not to take down the statue of its benefactor Cecil Rhodes.
Punishing current students over the ‘institutional racism’ is utterly ridiculous.
And what’s more, shouldn’t these so-called educators be the first to say that debate is far more constructive than boycott? Perhaps not.
Poor Professor Kathleen Stock was hounded from Sussex University by trans-activist students, as well as many colleagues for her opinions on biological sex.
Take poor Prof Kathleen Stock as an example. She was harassed at Sussex University because of her views about biological sex. This includes by students of trans-activists and her colleagues.
The general-secretary of the University and College Union – the same union behind this week’s strikes – refused to support her.
It is not surprising that this week’s vice-chancellors claimed the UCU had been taken over by the left-leaning.
The truth is that wokery and aggressive personal agendas have become the norm in academia – be it trans ideology, ‘white privilege’ or, indeed, lecturers’ own pensions.
Let me be clear: I passionately believe that people must be free to express their opinions – but why must lecturers always be so quick to strike, dispensing with the students in their charge at the drop of a hat?
It is the people from the lowest socioeconomic backgrounds that Left-wingers will claim they are standing for who bear the brunt, which is a great irony.
Education was meant to be my key to a better future – they are ripping that opportunity away from me.