From Portsmouth to Paris: The rising austerity in education

As I watch my years spent studying at university gradually eat away at my income like a Pac Man navigating its way through the maze of a costly student life in Portsmouth (each dot in the maze being a fraction of my tuition fees, a fine for an overdue library book, a replacement of a missing student ID, or a repair to a maintenance issue in my student accommodation, haunted by the ever present ghosts of failing economic prospects yet to come), I question the fairness of this system. I wonder if a system free of class and where income doesn't control every aspect of our lives can ever be possible. Since Tony Blair's proposal for tuition fees, this level of socioeconomic disparity with regard to education has become yet more apparent especially throughout a period of constant fluctuation and mass stagnation of economic growth during continued recovery from financial crises, especially given the many unnecessary cuts to welfare and education spending, two things that are paramount in acting as a cornerstone to social stability, good wellbeing and success for university students for now and for the future.

It is when looking out across the English channel at the mass uprising that is taking place amongst the students in France that one can begin to recognise and envision the exact extent of this system becoming in a complete state of absolute decay under capitalism, and the significant and far reaching social impact and civil unrest that is likely to arise because of this for the UK in the future, should this crisis continue to escalate further, and should act as a crucial turning point for inspiring mass action and social mobilisation within and outside of schools and universities to fight against austerity and the unfair cuts to welfare (reaching an enormous £42 million) that are holding so many students back from the high quality, secure and successful education that their government they are continually let down by in its promise to adequately provide for them. With students studying in conditions unfit for supporting their physical and emotional wellbeing and failing in allowing for their basic human rights to be met (rat infestations, classrooms reaching 40 degrees in extreme heatwaves, and inability to access enough acceptable sanitation facilities being just a few of these issues), it can come as no surprise that mass student-led uprising and protests in major French cities are increasing, and school aged students are becoming continually more political. This can thus be seen to act as a sad reminder of the failings of Macron's government and the fears posed by the rising popularity of Le Pen's extreme right populism across France, causing for students to, with whatever means possible, hold back on and act against the systems that repress them. This can be seen, not just as a purely academic issue, but as a feminist issue and a means of empowerment of specifically youth, students and young women particularly those of marginalised cultural and ethnic backgrounds, allowing lesser heard demographics that rarely get the recognition they deserve to truly bring to attention the inequalities within society they live and study under. It brings to the forefront the failings of the actions of the generations before them and effectively foreshadows the potential future that they have helped build, a future which sets many young people to struggle and fail miserably in reaching their full potential and meeting their greatest ambitions. Whether through informal online communication and meeting up outside school or planned collaboration with unionised forces within education, it goes to show how good initiative and inspiration to make the change we need to see, even amidst the scenes of brutality and widespread unjustifiable police violence they have received (this being especially ironic considering the major cuts to infrastructure and unwillingness by the French authorities to invest into welfare and ensuring basic human rights get met, yet there still somehow being huge amounts left to invest into appalling and costly means of defence and policing). From our small demo on campus this week in Portsmouth to the major protests in Paris, and from the huge student revolts of  1968 to those of 2026, we as the students united will never be defeated, and we will continue to stand in solidarity with each other together in our common desire for a brighter future for education. Until every last cut has been opposed and the end to austerity is in sight, our collective resistance will never die.