Students rally to improve campus conditions

Issue 

By Aaron Benedek

SYDNEY — Three hundred students rallied at the University of Sydney on March 30, one week after students occupied the Student Centre on a March 22 national day of action against the privatisation of education.

The rally is part of an ongoing campaign around a "log of claims" lodged with the university. Demands include a cap on tutorial sizes of 15, an end to attacks on staff pay and conditions, abolition of up-front fees for all undergraduate and post-graduate students, free child-care on campus, and 50 scholarships for East Timorese students to study at the university.

Speakers included representatives of the Sole Parent Association and the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union.

Students Representative Council international solidarity officer Alexia Mylonas spoke about the struggle of Indonesian students against attempts to cut government subsidies to education, and of East Timorese students to rebuild an education system from scratch.

Students from other campuses of the university, including the School of Nursing and Conservatorium of Music, spoke about the fact that facilities on their campuses have deteriorated dramatically.

The protest marched to the vice-chancellor's office to demand a response to the list of demands. After getting no response, students marched off campus and onto a nearby major road. Police tried to force the protesters off the road, and violently arrested three people.

Resistance member Alice Cansdell said that the rally showed that many students were concerned about the declining quality and cost of education. "The demands got a good response from many students", she commented. "There is heaps more potential in this campaign if we continue to reach out to, and actively involve, more students in the campaign."

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