Cardiff Students Lobby Parliament
On Wednesday 3rd December, 2003, students from Cardiff went to Parliament to lobby against top-up fees along with students accross the UK. The Lobby was successful, with a significant number of MPs stating support for the NUS campaign.Cardiff students met with Jon Owen Jones (Cardiff Central MP) and a number of other Welsh MPs to discuss the problems that were facing students.
Emma Bebington (former Communications and Community Officer for the Students' Union) reported that the event went well;
"There was alot of support for the NUS campaign, particularly from Wales. Parliament has posponed the vote on Top-Up fees until late January, so we will not know the real outcome until then: hopefully we have achieved what we wanted, and the bill will not go through."
If you do not know who your MP is, visit faxyourmp
Thousands of Students March on London
For more photos see sub-menu (on right of screen)
Cardiff Students joined around 31,000 people on Sunday 26th October 2003 to voice their concern over proposed changes in student finance.
The Demo was in reaction to a government white paper suggesting tuition fees should be increased by the introduction of 'Top Up Fees'. This would leave many paying up to 3000 for tuition per year and graduating with up to 23,000 worth of debt regardless of their economic background (according to NUS).
83 students from Cardiff headed off to the March in the early hours of Sunday morning, joined by a further 5 at the demonstration. This made a turnout of 88 cardiff students, the largest in recent history!
Former Communications and Community officer, Emma Bebington, expressed her gratitude to everyone who came along:
"Everyone gave up a day of their lives to try to help future students. They all deserve a big thank you. The day went well, we even managed not to leave anyone behind in London! A special thanks must go to Caralyn Richards (Women's Officer), Gemma Long (Uni Hall Resident) and Lee Gregory (Gay and Bisexual Officer) for helping me out on the day and stewarding the coaches.
I know the event hit the headlines so hopefully this will make an impact on the Government. It was thought that the government might make a decision on the White Paper ("The Future of Higher Education") this November (2003) but now it seems it might not happen til June so the fight must continue."
Most concerning is the possible impact this will have on students from the poorest backgrounds (who will have to pay the same fee as all other students). Already, the introduction of tuition fees appears to have reduced growth in applications from students in the two lowest economic groups - between 1996 and 2001 the number applying for medicine was halved. For more information about the National Campaign against tuition fees visit NUS WEBPAGE
If you would like to help the Union more with this campaign, email bebingtone@cf.ac.uk
Take ActionAs well as going on the National Demo, you can also EMAIL YOUR MP
