A New Deal for Education #GE15 Joe Vinson & Megan Dunn VP(FE) & VP(HE), NUS

A new deal for education What does education mean to us? What does it mean to the public? The New Deal policy offer Stories, allies and tactics

2 views of education What do you make of these? Barack Obama: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TK-nPlvRcyY Suli Breaks: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D-eVF_G_p-Y

Your experience: the good How has education changed you or created new opportunities for you or people you know?

Your experience: the bad Have you or people you know been excluded from education or had your pathway unfairly restricted?

The public Get out your smartphones and tablets (share if you need to) Find a media report, blog or social media commentary about education or students What does this information tell us about how the public views education? What are the implications of this?

So, the architecture of the new deal is flexible and adaptable, owned and shaped by our member unions from a menu (it has been described as ‘pizza toppings’)

Let’s explore the three strands… Let’s explore the three strands….first the ten policy asks from education.

Values Public: based on a compact between students and society Opportunity: for diverse students and pathways through education Rights: demands entitlements for students

Also Encompass a wide variety of issues Reflect for the most part our existing policy Decision made at level of national government not by institutions Relatively easy to grasp by less politically engaged students

Shaping a new deal for education A new deal for higher education funding We want government to phase out tuition fees and restore public funding to universities. A new deal for postgraduate support   We’re calling for a new postgraduate funding system that removes the financial barriers to study and puts the diverse needs of students first.

Shaping a new deal for education A new deal for education maintenance   We want political parties to commit to creating a new and better Education Maintenance Allowance so that disadvantaged students in further education can thrive and reach their potential. A new deal for recognising disability We want government to protect and improve the Disabled Students Allowance.

Shaping a new deal for education A new deal for student rights and representation   We want government to protect in law the rights of all students to independent representation in a students’ union and the right to independent redress where students feel that they have not been fairly treated. A new deal for 16-19 education We want political parties to recognise that not every learner needs to look the same and to restore AS levels, resits and modular learning.

Shaping a new deal for education A new deal for lifelong learning   We’re asking the next government to make a commitment to adult learning by halting the expansion of 24+ fees and loans, and scrapping them instead. A new deal for public education We want government to make a commitment to public education by ensuring that no penny of public funding goes to for-profit providers of education.

Shaping a new deal for education A new deal for taking refuge in education   We want government to treat asylum seekers with conditional leave to remain as home students for student finance purposes, giving them access to the funding and support they need to achieve their potential. A new deal for global education We want government to put into place a national financial protection scheme into which all education providers have to pay, to ensure that students’ studies are not disrupted in the event of institutional failure, or funding sources being severed by natural or civil crises in their home country.

Group work What stories can we tell about this issue to bring people on board? Who are our allies outside the movement? What campaign actions could SUs organise in support of each objective?