The government is trying to impose 80% cuts to university funding and a trebling of university fees to £9000 per year. They are also scrapping Educational Maintenance Allowance- the money given to some A level students so that they can afford to support themselves at college. Many of you will know about these measures already. This is a feminism issue because currently females make up the majority of the lowest paid graduates.
I am writing from University College London's occupation; students at UCL feel so strongly about these changes that we are occupying a room in our university to pressure our management into condemning the cuts. Our occupation has support from the NUS, Billy Bragg, Polly Toynbee, Chomsky and many others. As has been reported in the media thousands of students have taken to the streets in protest. The changes will not affect us directly as our fees are set at £3000 but we are campaigning for the next generation of children who are faced with excessive levels of debt and under-funded universities.
We know that it's a lot easier for students to protest than people with families but we would love to involve you in our campaign. If you, like us, feel these cuts are unfair and want to be heard, send a picture like this one
ucloccupation.wordpress.com/2010/11/29/i'm-a-baby- not-a-cash-cow/
NB- please take out the space between 'baby-' and 'not' in the web address.
Feel free to use a different slogan.
Send the picture to [email protected].
We also hope to stand with you on any further peaceful protests. Parents and Students- let's stand together!
Follow our campaign on www.ucloccupation.com
Feminism: Sex and gender discussions
Parents and Students unite!
EducationForAll · 01/12/2010 20:09
UCL occupation - you have my total admiration. What you are doing gives me hope and inspiration.
The education cuts/fees are also a feminist issue because:
As women tend to take career breaks to have a family more than men do, they will take longer to pay back their loans, thus increasing the amount they pay back compared to men due to interest.
The courses that are not suffering cuts on the same scale are STEM courses, which tend to attract higher numbers of male than female students. Female dominated courses are being cut more.
And there's another thing, but I've forgotten it, so you'll just have to believe me 
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