Students occupy University building against cuts
Article published: Thursday, November 11th 2010
In the wake of yesterday’s mass student protest against Higher Education cuts, students today occupied the administration building of the University of Manchester.
Students occupying admin building at University of Manchester
Around 70 students occupied the John Owen’s building at 2pm, including the Director of Finance’s office, demanding that the University show their accounts books and that the senior management come clean about where the cuts will fall.
Gayle O’Donovan, a 2nd year Geography student said, “We’re non-violently blockading the finance offices to demand that they open their books and come clean about where the University is forecasting the cuts. We also want free access to the building for students and the media. The University needs to provide a timeline for when they will announce their position on the cuts.”
Ed Shaklesbury, a 2nd year engineering student said, “We want more information on the redundancies of staff at the University and how this will affect students on the ground. It is becoming clear that the University doesn’t want to share this information.”
A spokesman for the University said, “In terms of the Browne review, this has yet to approved by the government. We are still considering our strategy on fees until we know the scale of the cuts, probably in January 2011. We have a program of voluntary redundancies and early retirement which pre-empted the cuts.”
A statement on the protesters’ website said, “We are here to support lecturers and administrative staff who will be losing their jobs. To oppose the rise in tuition fees that will price out most working class students. And to oppose the privatisation of our Universities.”
The students left the building around 5pm. The University has released a statement to protesters saying they are willing to discuss their response to the planned cuts with the Student Union Executive in the New Year.
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