Education unions support protests by students across Europe

There’s something rotten in Europe. Schools, universities and other education establishments are chronically underfunded. Whereas billions of euros were mobilised overnight to salvage the banks, governments find it hard to put their fingers on the money so urgently needed to invest in the future by committing to education. Young people are deprived of prospects by a lack of education opportunities and a shortage of places to train and study. Children from families with little education and low incomes are severely under-represented in higher education. The Bologna Process promised better courses and easier mobility, but in many European countries its implementation is actually making things worse. Schools and universities are exposed to markets and competition and they are being restructured as education companies. Working conditions and terms of employment in the education sector are increasingly subject to demands for flexibility and fixed-term contracts are spreading fast. This is damaging the quality of education and the appeal of challenging professions in teaching and research.

We have to put a stop to this! It is high time for a U-turn in education policy, which should be aimed at fighting education poverty, creating equal opportunities and providing a decent education for all!

Therefore education unions all over Europe demand

The quality of education and the quality of working in education are two sides to the same coin! The time has come for a protest movement in which higher education and school students join with teachers, researchers and everyone else working in the field to pull together, adding their combined weight to calls for a U-turn in education policy. Together against the crisis – for decent education and decent work!