Covid, capitalism and crisis in Higher Education: Why the system needs an overhaul - with Larissa Kennedy

Start: 2020-11-11 20:00:00 UTC Greenwich Mean Time : Dublin, Edinburgh, Lisbon, London (GMT+00:00)

This is a virtual event

The Higher Education sector is in a state of unprecedented crisis.

Universities institutions face financial collapse. Rocketing COVID cases on campuses have resulted in spiralling accommodation lock-downs. All the while, financial risks worsened by the crisis are being transferred to individuals: staff and students.

Covid has thrown a spotlight onto the deep flaws of our higher education system - a system that has become increasingly marketised through years of disastrous neoliberal capitalist education reforms.

Since universities and colleges have become increasingly financially dependent on private finance and tuition fee income, we've seen university management attempt to fill funding gap by pushing student recruitment, and locking students into accommodation contracts they now cannot escape.

The result? Students and staff health and welfare is at risk, working conditions for front line staff are unsafe, rising numbers of students face significant financial struggle, while others simply cannot access their education.

But how did things get this bad? What has the pandemic revealed about our Higher Education system? And how do we fight back and build an entirely new system? One where education is free, life-long and accessible to all?

Join us for an exciting online talk and Q&A on these pressing questions with NUS President, Larissa Kennedy. The National Union of Students are about to launch a national day of action demanding that #StudentsDeserveBetter. Tune in to hear more on her thoughts on how we fight for justice for students and how you can get involved in this growing movement!
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