documenti
e appelli raccolti in Rete:
Appello
unitario di Barcellona 2002 (catalano)
Appello
unitario di Salamanca 2002 (eng)
Appello
per le demo del 15 marzo (fra)
[Invito ad azioni decentralizzate e diverse
nelle forme e nei tempi]
Comunicato
e appello sul 15/16 marzo degli spezzoni anarchici e autonomi
(ita)
[con appuntamenti di piazza per il 15]
Appello
per lo sciopero inter-europeo degli/lle studenti/esse (ita)
[appello di studenti tedeschi e austriaci
per unire le lotte studentesche]
resoconto
assemblea europea studentesca (ita)
[resoconto di un italiano presente durante
il D14 in Belgio]
Di
cosa discute l'UE a Barcellona? (ita)
[estratto da una pagina ufficiale dell'Unione
Europea]
Banca
Mondiale e privatizzazioni (ing)
[i "consigli" della BM riguardo
la privatizzazione dei settori pubblici]
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EU-wide
protestcampaign in 2002:
Education
is not for sale!
-
Forum about education and culture & demonstration in Salamanca
(Spain) March 17-19
-
Forum about education and international studentblock at demonstration
in Sevilla (Spain) June 21-22
Decentralized protests in Europe during the summer-semester
Study fees, budget cuts, deregulation, privatisation, lack of
democracy... In all European countries (and beyond) education
is changing rapidly. A change in education policy is also what
we want, but not the neo-liberal changes that are being pushed
forward by the European Union and its member states.
Why do they want to change the education systems ?
While the UK's schools might one day be worth £25bn a year
to potential "investors", the US system has been valued
at $700bn. Worldwide, education is worth trillions (for exact
figure: OECD). If a country can seize an early and substantial
share of this market,its economy can overcome a crisis by that
and it ensures itself a big advantage in the competition with
other ones. And they are not only thinking like that in the UK,
it`s EU policy and it`s the main reason for many changes in the
European education sector. Education is increasingly not "only"
a provider of new human resources for big business, but big business
in its own right.
New laws in Europe
In Germany study fees are being introduced through the back door.
There are various kinds of fees, which aren't named as such. In
Berlin students have to make a contribution to the university-bureaucracy
of 50% per semester, and in some states (Bundesländer) there
are fees for students who have studied for more than 13 semesters.
In July 2001 one of the highest courts declared this legal. Though
these examples show the existence of study fees in Germany, politicians
still pretend that there are no fees and that the discussion about
their introduction was open.General study fees seem to be a question
of time. Labeled as autonomy; universities shall and do search
for funding beside the stately budgets. Sponsoring increases.
The present developments do not only serve economical goals but
can also be described as diciplination of students. So is it possible
now at some universities to drive out students who studied more
than a certain number of years without passing their final exams.
In Austria the government introduced study fees last year. In
the UK an increasing number of higher education and business leaders
talk openly of a completely privatised system of deregulated fees,
while the government has introduced privatisation into the school
system for the first time. In Italy the government have plans
to privatise schools and universities. In the Netherlands, Minister
of Education "Hermans" is a great fan of GATS. In Spain
the goverment has introduced a new law called L.O.U. (In Spanish:
Ley Orgánica de Universidades). This law is reforming universities
and will suppress the joyce bodies of the universities, operate
universities under strict managing criteria, let the managerial
class into the University, and encourage Universities to finance
themselves by competing for private money. The present Directive
that the Popular Party is proposing imposes the most conservative
and capitalist postulates of the right-wing policy. In Denmark
the new neo-liberal government has a majority in the parliament
to make budget cuts specific to education of 15 % within the next
3 years, and futhermore they are letting 6.000 extra students
(which is a lot in Denmark) into the system without extra funding.
In France, for many years, university reforms have been intended
for diminishing the state financing and have been carrying an
hiden privatization planning. In 1998, the Attali Report recommended
reforms in order to make the colleges pay as they do in Anglo-saxons
countries, what would destroy the public services of education.
This report particularly recommended a new system of diplomas
with degrees after 3, 5 and 8 years of study. Since this report,
the reforms by the former secretary of Education Claude Allègre,
the "3rd Millenium University" development plan (U3M),
and most recently the reforms engaged by the actual French secretary
of Education Jack Lang, put into practice these recommandations.
The secretary of Education Jack Lang is now going further, instituing
points-scored degree i.e. the ECTS (European Credit Transfer System).
Students strike actions try to oppose this free market logic (the
firms will soon be allowed to invest in the Universities) and
to stand up for everybody's right to gain access to a good-quality
knowledge. Such strike actions particularly took place in November
and December 1998 and March 2001. At the French speaking university
of Brussels most students have to pay for language courses, only
the exams are for free. The Belgium government stated that they
will never privatize higher education. What they mean is that
the public universities will always give the diploms etc. In praxis
universities can let companies do the courses. Students can follow
the course for a fee by the company and do the exam at the university
for free. In Ireland tuition fees of €3,000 to €4,000
are being discussed . The reintroduction of fees for full time
students is one of two stark options set out in a confidential
draft report to the Irish Government. In Turkey the government
proposes new laws to get "ready" for GATS.
The European Round Table Of Industrialists (ERT)
In Europe, the reforms required to privatise state education are
gradually being put in place. Under pressure from the European
Round Table of industrialists (ERT), the European Commission has
decided to take things in hand, and new information and communication
technology offers an ideal pretext for doing so. Every six months,
the ERT holds a meeting with the president of the European Union
to discuss priorities. Since 1999, this pressure group has been
chaired by Morris Tabaksblat, president of the Anglo-Dutch company
Reed-Elsevier, which has declared its intention of becoming the
world leader in the education and internet publishing sector.
The ERT has also set up a working group on external economic relations
to supervise the progress of the WTO talks. This is headed by
none other than BP-Amoco chairman Peter Sutherland, who is a former
director-general of GATT. This lobby group is very clear about
what it wants governments to do: 'Responsibility for training
must be assumed by industry once and for all... education should
be considered as a service to the economy.' National education
systems will not be completely eliminated. Under the logic of
the neo-liberal economy, in which profit-making entities are privatised
and loss-making ones are subsidised by the taxpayer, governments
will still have a role to play. The OECD wrote: 'The only role
of the public sector will be to ensure access to learning for
those who will never be a profitable market, and whose exclusion
from society in general will be accentuated as others continue
to progress.'
Bologna proces and GATS
In the Netherlands, minister Jorritsma(VVD,Dutch liberal party)
has said that the universities should be jugded by their market-ableness.
His comment fit in the framework of the Bologna declaration of
the European ministers of education and the General Agreement
of Trade in Services (GATS) of the WTO. European schools and universities
have to transform so they will be competitive for competitors
from non European countries . In Germany the education system
is getting re-structured according to the proposals of neo-liberal
think-tanks like the CHE (center for university-development which
is closly linked to the Bertelsmann Group). The study-structure
for example is supposed to be transformed from a more open diploma-
or magister-system towards a restrictive Bachelor/Master-system
. This structure means: a light version of education for everyone
and special skills for some chosen few. It means more pressure
to finish your studies (although 75% of the german students have
to work in order to finance their studies), it means a reduction
of content, especially such that can be considered as critical.
The Bachelor-Master structure is part of the Bologna proces. With
this system the universities can easylier compete with eachother.
They are trying to sell it to students with the slogan about mobility,
but who`s mobility? The mobility of the ones who can afford it!
GATS
By means of GATS (General Agreement on Trade on Services, a WTO
- World Trade Organisation - treaty) state (public) services like
education services and healthcare are declared a tradable commodity.
At the moment the liberalisation of education and healthcare sectors
are being negociated under the umbrella of GATS. The USA, New
Sealand and Australia made proposals for the GATS-negociations
about education. The European Commission ( The unelected "government"
of the EU, which negotiates in the WTO on behalf of EU member
states) has also demonstrated its commitment to the liberalisation
of public services. The European Union already accepted to open
their markets for primary education services, secundary education
services, higher education services and adult education services
for public - private partnerships. And since the negociations
about education are not finished yet, there is a danger that the
EU will even go further. Given that the Commission's 'Towards
GATS 2000' statement of intent calls GATS "first and foremost
an instrument for the benefit of business", the coverage
of education by GATS will contribute to the extension of private
initiatives to education at all levels throughout the world (at
January 1st 2002 144 countries were member of the WTO). At the
WTO ministerial meeting in Doha, Qatar, in November 2001 the WTO
member states have agreed that requests for countries to open
up their services sectors will be submitted by 30 June 2002 and
initial offers of countries to liberalise will be submitted by
31 March 2003. Negotiations on services, as with the other agreements,
will be completed by 1 January 2005. GATS rules may effectively
prevent government subsidies from being selectively applied to
public services. There are two key trade principles at the core
of the GATS. These two principles are designed to limit government
interventions in the service sector. For example under the national
treatment principle, once a government signs up a service, it
could face WTO challenge if it implements legislation which favours
local suppliers over foreign suppliers. This has implications
when it comes to the granting of subsidies. For example, where
a GATS commitment has been made, governments providing subsidies
to domestic service suppliers also have to make an equivalent
subsidy available to foreign providers operating in the country.
This raises the possibility of having a basic government-funded
education system, with funding given to all providers (private-
and public), and then allowing individuals to enhance this by
paying top-up fees to providers with varying so called "elite
universities", or for the provision of 'optional extras'
at an additional charge. In other words, GATS could dramatically
boost the trend even further away from universal and equal access
to free, publicly provided quality education (wich is something
we`ve never had, but it`s one of the goals we want to achieve),
towards the spread of education systems based on the ability of
pupils and students to pay. Another big problem is that the education
programms will change when there is more and more competition
between private- and public schools and universities. Private
institutions will only learn people what "big bussiness"
wants them to know. State schools and universities will follow,
otherwise they will lose pupils and students. Perhaps the biggest
threat posed by GATS is the threat to democracy. Once decisions
are reached under the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS),
government activities in the services sector that are seen to
'interfere' with trade faces the threat of WTO legal action. GATS
means that if a government listens to the voice of its people
and responds by making appropriate policy changes it also faces
the threat of WTO legal action. For commercial and political reasons
it may be easier to "trade" higher education in particular
for access to other countries' markets for EU businesses. But
the stakes are high: Pascal Lamy, the EU Trade commissionair,
stated, "For the EU, services are central. We are number
one in the world: 26% of world trade. Services account for two
thirds of EU GNP" and on another location he said about the
trade in services:"If we want to improve our own access to
foreign markets then we can't keep our protected sectors out of
the sunlight. We have to be open in negotiating them all if we
are going to have the material for a big deal. In the US and the
EU, that means some pain in some sectors but gain in many others,
and I think we both know that we are going to have to bite the
bullet to get what we want". Alexa McDonough, the leader
of Canada's National Democratic Party, stated that the GATS constitutes
"the greatest transfer of economic and political power in
history... from communities and nation states into the hands of
a small number of global corporations".
The consequences:
- More and more schools and universities in Europe are being privatised
- Studyfees are being introduced or the fees are getting higher
and higher
- The right to get a good education is more and more a question
of money
- Democratic rights for pupils and students at schools and universities
are being cut
- The things we learn are increasingly the things companies want
us to learn
We want an education system for people, not for profits!
We will not allow education policies to be dictated by undemocratic
organisations such as the European Union, the World Trade Organisation
and private companies. Students, teachers, parents and pupils
have to decide what kind of education they want. We will have
to act at the local and international level to stop these developments
since they are happening everywhere.
For an international campaign during the summer-semester of 2002!
We propose to start an international campaign against these developments
during the summer-semester of 2002. In December 2001 students
of several European countries protested against the privatisation
of education with strikes, occupations and demonstrations. We
think this short campaign was a step into the right direction.
We want to put more pressure on the decision-makers and develop
alternatives for a different kind of university. Therefore we
call on all students to join the forum about education and culture
and the international student demonstration in Salamanca (Spain)
during March 17-19 and to join the international student block
and the forum about education in Sevilla (Spain) during June 21
& 22. In the months between the protests and forums we in
Spain call all students to increase local protests against the
privatisation of education and to fight for our democratic rights
at OUR universities!
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