BY GRANT COLEMAN
The federal government's plans for higher education, contained in the package "Our universities: backing Australia's future", represent the most decisive step towards a tiered, privatised system since the abolition of free education. The question for student and staff activists is, how do we fight it?
The package, released on May 13, includes deregulated and increased student fees, twice as many full-fee-paying domestic students, the forced corporatisation of university administrations, "voluntary" student unionism, and individual workplace agreements for staff.
Three-hundred education activists from around the country came together in Adelaide at the July 3-5 National Union of Students' national education conference to discuss combatting the package. The conference's main decision was to organise a national day of action on August 27.
Although conference resolutions are not binding on NUS, the union has committed to building the action and NUS-produced publicity material will get to campuses soon.
Some activists, however, opposed a national day of action. They argued that all decisions should be made at a state or campus level. But the majority of conference participants supported a national conference, with representatives from across the country, setting a date for coordinated action.
Nationally coordinated mobilisation is the most effective way of demonstrating to the government the breadth and depth of student, staff and community anger.
Activists also debated whether city-wide mass rallies should take place on the day, or if protests should be restricted to on-campus actions. Supporters of the latter argued that smaller, local actions were more "empowering".
But the most empowering actions of the anti-war movement, and the actions that involved the most university students, were unquestionably the huge marches through city streets — an amazing expression of collective power. The on-campus rallies in this instance were smaller and less empowering.
There is no "better" form of collective action — campus-based or city-wide. Such decisions need to made based on individual situations.
Already, cross-campus education networks in Melbourne, Sydney, Perth and Brisbane have begun planning August 27 protests. Discussions with academic and general staff about coordinated staff-student action have taken place in Melbourne. High-school students have also been asked to take part. It is important that we get large and broad rallies in order to shore up more community opposition to the package and to increase the pressure on the government.
In Wollongong, a meeting of TAFE and university students and officials from the National Tertiary Education Union and NSW Teachers Federation have established the Public Education Network.
There was support at the meeting for an August 27 city-wide rally. Plans include "direct action" at the Australian Tax Office. Students will be given 50 cents to pay off their HECS debt, to highlight the impact of increasing student debt.
Campus-based education action groups are also swinging into gear. They have met at Sydney, Wollongong, Newcastle and Adelaide universities, and probably more.
The success of the campaign depends on these collectives. A national conference decision is useless, if there aren't activist groups on the ground to carry it out. Campus-based collectives are the best place to involve people and work out specific tactics. We have to put more effort into publicising their meetings and making them accessible if this is to happen.
The government would not be able to implement most of the package, if university administrations refused to endorse it. Thus, we must target them as part of the campaign. Some vice-chancellors oppose the changes — we should be demanding that they do so publicly and help to resource the campaign against it.
Some vice-chancellors are prepared to support it. Student activists on their campuses should think about picketing council meetings that might vote to implement the package (as was done this month on Sydney University) or occupying the vice-chancellors office. It's useful for activists to know what the position of all university councillors is on this issue.
While it will take a variety of tactics to defeat the government, the strategic goal must be to politicise the campuses — involving the greatest number of students possible in fighting back and making the privatisation of education a dirty, and intolerable, concept.
This is the kind of pressure that not only threatens governments, but can ensure that Labor opposes the whole package.
Key to this is convincing students that we can win this campaign if they join in. It is only the possibility of this sort of rebellion that will stop the further privatisation of higher education.
[Grant Coleman is the Wollongong organiser of the socialist youth organisation Resistance.]
From 91×ÔÅÄÂÛ̳ Weekly, July 30, 2003.
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