O WIN almost everything the management Students are finding out just what a Tory government means. Last year, even the formerly privileged highereducation students had their grants cut in real terms by 10%.
This year, the government has turned its attention to student unions. In an attempt to destroy what autonomy they have had, Rhodes Boyson (Minister for Higher Education) has announced sweeping changes in the way student unions are to be financed.
CONTROL Previously, unions would negotiate with their parent institution (university etc) to decide a per capita fee for that college for the following year. That figure would then be charged to the fee-paying body by the college and passed on (as a legal right) to the student umon concern Under the new proposals, likely to be implemented this autumn, the government would add a nominal igure to the amount it pays (either directly or through a local authority) to each college. It will then be up to the college as to whether that money is passed on Although in the past governments have annually issued guidelines as to what the increase in student union fees should be, this new system gives the government a far tighter control over the amount of money student unions have.
FONT AGAINS UNEPLOYHEN CHILLING More chilling than that, though.
is the enormous dependence that student unions will now have upon their college authorities.
At the LSE, for example, the student union is currently organising a rent strike against increases of 24% in hall rents. At the same time, the union runs its own accommodation service (costing f800 in advertising alone). Under the new system, the LSE authorities could simply refuse to pay the grant (hence no accommodation service) if the rent strike continued RESPONSE The Tories, of course, have tried to cloak the fact that they are direc tly cutting income. They have followed their usual tactic of relying on "market forces". By putting student unions among all the other public sector groups competing for everscarcer resources (libraries, teaching resources etc, they hope they will fight it out among themselves instead of uniting in opposition to all cuts.
The NUS leadership's response to the Tory attack piays into their hands. They have tended to concentrate around how much money will go to the student unions. Not only does this neglect the important issue of student union freedom to spend the money as they wish.
It also cuts students off from the other sectors facing cut-backs. Such a policy can only lead to students defending themselves against other workers for a larger slice of a diminishing cake instead of uniting with them in a common fight-back against the Tory offensive.