Activists plan education campaign

By Justin Randell

PERTH -- More than 100 student activists from the National Organisation of Labor Students (NOLS -- Labor left), Unity (Labor right), Resistance, Left Alliance, International Socialists, Socialist Alternative, Non-Aligned Left and various independents discussed the way forward for the campaign against the Howard government's attacks on education at the National Union of Students' (NUS) national education conference at Murdoch University on July 13-14.

If Howard proceeds with plans to abolish Austudy and replace it with a voluntary loans scheme which will not cover high school students, increase HECS, introduce up-front fees for undergraduate courses and cut government grants for education, it will place tertiary education out of reach for more and more young people.

A state by state review was followed by reports from Victoria and Western Australia on voluntary student unionism and its implications for the student movement.

The highlight of the conference was the action plenary on the second day. Curtin Guild was condemned for closing the Women's and Disabled Students' departments. The conference also called for the setting up of a National Education Action Network independent of NUS.

A motion was passed supporting the CPSU's fight against the public sector cuts, showing students' awareness of the need to unite in action with other sectors under fire.

Another theme was the importance of on-campus groups in the campaign. Such groups allow broad layers of students to become involved and encourage many to become activists, a vital step if the anti-cuts campaign is to succeed.

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