NUS ATA: Operation Camera, Karaoke and Other Delights

With NUS Action Through Advocacy Training, of course, came fun!

We had lots of evening activity, which included an AMAZING game called operation camera (watch out for it on RA training!) Basically, we had a list of 35 things- from a clocktower, to our team up a tree, to include in just 15 photos! We earned points for every item that we managed to included, and got bonus points for innovation, creativity and cramming as much into one photo as possible!

The picture below is just one of the photos we had to take as part of the game! This is our team wearing red, our team on a bed, our team at a b&b, our team wearing hats and "a team".

Not only was the game AMAZING, my team- "Team Laura" won by at least 40 points. Which was very exciting.




Other than Operation Camera, ATA came complete with the obligatory NUS Karaoke.

The picture on the right of the page is of "team Laura" singing Year 3000 by Busted.

Our karaoke attempts weren't as successful as Operation Camera, but we so much fun all the same!

NUS ATA: Why we need a fairer funding system

Securing a fair Higher Education Funding system is the priority campaign of the NUS this year.

At ATA last week, we listened to a presentation from Aaron Porter, NUS Vice President (Higher Education) on why securing such a system is so vital in ensuring that a university education is available to everybody that has the ability.

The HE funding debate, all began when top up fees were introduced. The biggest threat that we as students will face in the coming year, is the potential lifting of the cap on top up fees, which could see students from 2010 onwards paying even more than they already do for basic tuition.

The political landscape has changed significantly since the last time we had this debate back in 2006 (see picture of the national demo on the right). We now have a new Prime Minister and all political parties are reviewing their stance on HE funding.
Devolution also means that we now have different funding arrangements across the British nations.

In line with these developments, NUS National Conference this year decided to focus it's argument on securing a fair funding arrangement for students, rather than pursuing the battle for free education- which in the current political climate, is neither suitable, nor realistic.

The 2009 review on top up fees will consider how graduates should contribute to the HE sector, and additionally how the HE sector should be funded. It shall also consider International student and postgraduate student fees.

-> The current funding system is regressive in nature
-> The more you earn after graduation, the less you contribute to repaying your student loan
-> England needs a fairer funding system

As Aaron so rightly said, higher education- one of the best drivers of social mobility should not transform into a market where there are winners and losers.

The student movement this year, will therefore focus on keeping the cap on tuition fees, and opposing the marketisation of education.We must also recognise that HE in this country, is significantly underfunded.
The NUS are calling on...

-> The English % contribution of GDP on HE should be in line with the OECD average
N.B- We spend 1.1% of GDP on HE, the average for the OECD is 1.4% and the highest contribution within the OECD is 2.2%
-> There should be a structured business contribution to the HE sector
-> Commercial rates should not exist on student loans
-> Part time students should be entitled to a more proportional amount of student loan

We were shown a graph on the amount of money spent per student, per year from 1948-2008 (and beyond) ------------------------------------>

As you can see, when state contribution was at its highest, in the 1970s, up to £11,000 was spent per student per year.

By 1998, just £5,700 was spent per student per year. The rationale behind tuition fees was to decrease the level of state funding.

Since the introduction of "top up fees", the level of state contribution has been stable.
The key question in this debate is where the money is going to come from in the future?

Keep checking back for more information regarding the national campaign on HE funding on the 5th of November....

NUS ATA: Sexual Health

As part of my NUS Action Through Advocacy training last week, I attended a workshop on sexual health, run by national Vice President (Welfare) Ama Uzowuru.

The workshop began by bringing to light some shocking statistics on sexual health in the UK, which really highlight why we still need to focus on the area of sexual health in our campaigns and activities today.

-> STI diagnoses between 1996 and 2005 increased by 60%
-> Young people in Britain have the worst sexual health in Western Europe
->Sex and Relationship Education is not only hetronormative, but not a complusary part of the national curriculum!
->At least 25,000 people in the UK have contracted HIV and are unaware of their condition
->15% of lesbian women, and 7% of non lesbian women never have a routine smear test.
-> 29% if transgender people are discouraged from accessing healthcare, because of the attitude of healthcare proffesionals.

-> A concern that was highlighted in this workshop is that there is no set ringfenced government money for sexual health activity.
-> There is meant to be a maximum 48 hour waiting time for a GUM clinic appointment- in reality however, these appointments can take weeks.
-> If you are over the age of 21, the GUM clinics do not see you as a priority, so your waiting time may be even longer than the average!

As part of the workshop, we also had a talk from Global Ethics, who produce One Water.
-> From September this year, Global Ethics are going to begin selling condoms, from which the profits will go to funding HIV projects in Africa.
-> 38.6 million people globally are diagnosed with HIV, 70% of which are from Africa.

Look out for the condoms from September- they come in really cool packaging (see the picture top right). Global Ethics will be launching a national competiton to design a packet. Also watch out later in the year, as they will be looking for ambassadors!

NUS APL: Why HE is so Unfair

Myself, Tom (VPEA), Oggy (VPHC) and Sparky (VPS) attended NUS Active Political leadership (APL) training this week.

Throughout the course we watched many presentations, but the one that touched me the most was "Why Higher Education is so unfair" delivered by a member of NUS staff. The figures that I am about to mention are just a few examples and really highlight how far we have to go to achieve true equality with regard to the accessibility of our institutions.

Students under the top up fee system if the cap is lifted, will be facing roughly £9k a year debt, which will add up to £27k by the time they graduate.

Graduates with a degree in arts will earn, on average £34,104 p/a. This on initial reflection appears to be substantial. However, graduates with arts degrees will only earn an extra £8k in a life time, once their student debt is paid off, than students with 2 A Level qualifications.

This is what we refer to as graduate premium. The graduate premium for a degree in arts therefore is low. Statistics suggest, however that graduate premium is significantly higher in courses with the lowest growth levels.

50% of students from independent schools continue their education in Russell Group universities, where as only 10% of students from FE colleges do the same.

Ethnic Minority Students are massively underrepresented in the Russell Group, with Black Carribean students only constituting 7% of the student bodies. In fact, there are more Black students at London Metropolitan University than in all of the Russell Group Universities combined.

One of the biggest problems for students are additional costs. Accomodation is a key barrier to education, with high costs meaning that many students are forced to study at home, or are put off from entering higher education all together.

The above are just some of arguments presented to us.
The presentation really rang true how far we have to go to ensure that higher education is available and accessible to anybody who has the ability.

NUS Active Political Leadership Training

Me, Tom, Oggy and Sparky went on NUS "Active Political Leadership" or APL training this week. I had so much fun and have come back really motivated, with many new ideas for the year ahead.

We received training in the role of Students' Unions, the history of student representation and building strong unions.
We attended workshops in public speaking, politics inside the institution, lobbying and negotiating, organising and campaigning and finally handling the media (which included me being grilled for what seemed like hours by Tom Marley- a journalist aided by spin doctor Chris Griffin from the Courtauld Institute- scary stuff!)

We also watched presentations on the injustices of the higher education system and NUS governance reform (both to follow in later blogs!)

The course culminated in what is probably the most intense training exercise I have ever experienced- Fibchester- where in teams we became the sabbatical officer team of the imaginary Fibchester Students' Union. In the space of 3 hours I had to meet with 2 Pro Vice Chancellors, write a governance review, lobby the university to improve its accessibility for disabled students and try and save the unions commercial services from a university take over.

STRESS STRESS STRESS STRESS STRESS!

After Fibchester I feel like I can get through anything thrown at me! The best part of the training though, was that it was a brilliant opportunity to network and meet other sabbatical officers from all over the country as well as some of the NUS National Executive Committee (NEC). If we work together we can win together and I for one can't wait to start! Above is a picture of me with the lovely Aaron Porter, NUS Vice President (Higher Education).