The Irish Education Forum; Formulating An Activist Future For Education.

national | anti-capitalism | news report

Wednesday March 03, 2004 04:11

by antrophe - IEF

antrophe at hotmail dot com

No longer debatable in the abstract, globalisation is now impacting on Irish education with the local face of a neo-liberal driven Irish state After the defeat of fees last year, cutbacks are being used to force college authorities into an implicit acceptance that funding will have to come from outside taxation. This is no coincidence. The World Trade Organisation's 'General Agreement on Trade In Services' has long defined public services as 'trade barriers' to be eliminated, education is no exception and Article 133 is there to speed up the whole process. Of course the business lobby are only delighted to eye up opening spaces for profit production. The only way to spin a profit from education is through commodification, and like all products the only way we can then access it is through paying.

Of course given the culture of secrecy around the formulation of these agendas, no one has bothered to consult the thousands of people who already can’t access third level such as travellers, people with disabilities, mature students, mothers and so on, the state simply seems intent to rush ahead with a business driven agenda dressed up in the rhetoric of social inclusion.

While University Heads and the OECD step up calls for the privatisation of education, USI fumbles for figures in a cash crisis which may see many officers made redundant, opening themselves up to increased scathing criticism. From the surface it could look like the student movement is up against the wall. But at the flipside, students are getting it together on the campuses with increasing success. The Boycott Coke Campaign got a new shot in the arm with victory in Trinity, and there’s a referendum on the way in Maynooth. Direct action got the goods in UCD, as library hours were restored after a campaign culminating in an overnight occupation. The national media pissed itself with excitement when it emerged McDowell had been apparently ‘assaulted’ in UCD by members of the anti-deportation campaign, UCD services told a different story; still the issues being raised by the activists remained submerged in the media warbles.

These new grass roots based movements need a forum for discussion and the promotion of grassroots activism through out Ireland. Hence the Irish Education Forum. The IEF will bring together students, trade unionists, and other activists from across Ireland to map out the Future of the Student movement in Ireland. It will be an open space for ideas with plenaries and workshops to inject some much needed ideas and energy into the movement. Plenaries will cover areas like Internationalisation, fighting cutbacks, defending education as a public service and access to education.

More information on what the Irish Education Forum is follows.

What is the Irish Education Forum?

The Irish Education Forum is a participatory dialogue seeking to formulate a grassroots response to the direction in which education is being pushed by nation states, international bodies and corporate interests. It will take place in the UCD Student Centre on March 18th and 19th, providing a counter-summit to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) meeting taking place in Dublin Castle. The Irish Education Forum strives to open up a forum for the co-operation and development of those involved in advocating a public education system driven by social needs rather than the states corporate agenda.

A series of plenary discussions will provide a focus for various workshops which will be taking place, under the headings such as the following.

Access.

In 2001 UCD the country’s biggest university had just 937 students whose parents were in semi skilled or unskilled jobs. 8,354 students came from employer, professional and managerial backgrounds. With the state appearing only too happy to maintain registration fees, inadequate grants, unaffordable housing, physical barriers and transport problems as social and economic barriers to education. It seems education is free in rhetoric alone as educational institutions remain closed off to large sections of the population. The publication of a recent OECD report recommends the privatisation of education, which can only accentuate the problems of access. Despite the language of social inclusion being adopted as a façade by the state in it’s recent onslaught against public education, the state remains oblivious with suggestions implying that educational inequality begins and can be solved at the college gate. Egalitarian education can only come about through the address of wider structural, social and cultural barriers in all levels of education. Under-funding in secondary and primary, as well as poverty in the community all remain as issues which the state refuse to address; while maintaining that erecting further financial barriers to third level will eliminate wider problems. If we are to formulate a social response to the corporate driven agenda of the state and private interests, then we need to identify where barriers to access actually emanate from, and what should really be done about it in order to challenge an increasingly regressive dialogue emanating from the state.

Globalisation.

No longer debatable in the abstract, the concept globalisation is now impacting on Irish education with the local face of a neo-liberal driven Irish state. After the defeat of fees last year, cutbacks are being used to force college authorities into an implicit acceptance that funding will have to come from outside taxation. This is no coincidence. The World Trade Organisation's 'General Agreement on Trade In Services' has long defined public services as 'trade barriers' to be eliminated, education is no exception. Of course the business lobby are only delighted to eye up opening spaces for profit production. The only way to spin a profit from education is through commodification, and like all products the only way we can then access it is through paying. Research funded by private interests, as has been the case already in some instances, means the end of the critical university and research that was once public being swallowed up for the benefit of private coffers. Not only do students and academics suffer, but those who keep our third level services ticking over face being franchised out to private agencies who only have to answer to their shareholders. In a discussion on GATS, David Kearns the US chair of Xerox described how ‘businesses will have to set the agenda…a complete restructure driven by competition and market discipline.' Of course, what ever doesn't fit the mould of the speculators will be driven out, unable to compete for private funding as no apparent market value is obvious. In the economic equation there is no room for the social value of free education. It is no coincidence the IEF is colliding with the meetings of the OECD around the EU presidency here. The formulation of the Lisbon and Bologna process of which education is a part seeks to speed up the globalisation process within the EU. The EU commission has after all described GATS as ‘first and foremost an instrument for the benefit of business.’ While international power structures meet behind power doors to decide the fate of our public services with no consultation. There is more need than ever for a flip side response from the students, academics, workers and communities whose real value from education is social rather than economic.

Democracy.

Increasingly profit is colonising our educational institutions, and is dictating the structures and decisions which are taken rather than democratic accountability. With competition for artificially limited resources increasingly deciding what is studied and what isn’t, education as an all encompassing experience is undercut in favour of churning out economically productive units instead of rounded individuals. Once tied into a business ethos, education and its running become a question open only to shareholders and private interests rather than those directly involved. While the structures of power in education become increasingly alienated from the democratic process, democratic control of social space in education also becomes eroded, as franchises set up and occupy the cultural and social milieus of academic experience. Students, workers and academics become redefined a ‘customers’ and their value and experience dictated by economic ends rather than social. The question of democracy extends into calling into question the current relationship between learner and teacher, the structures and habits governing how lecture, class and educational experience is organised. Does how we learn exclude and alienate people through misshapen notions of what academic capability is? The question of democracy in education is one which binds together all other questions, access, participation, who makes the decisions and in who’s interest? Extending beyond education, the issues posed by democracy in education call into question the models of governance and decision making structures which exist throughout society. If we are to pose an alternative vision of education, then how should it operate? And what practical applications from this vision can we implement in our own movements for change?

Anybody interested in hosting a participatory workshop to further delve into any issue over the course of the forum should get in touch as soon as possible. The findings of the workshops will be presented at the closing open floor plenary session.

To become get involved in discussions around the forum and to organise it join our discussion list at

[email protected]

Links;
http://www.education-is-not-for-sale.org European based student movement organising against the local manifestations of globalisation
http://www.zmag.org critical takes on globalisation and more
http://www.freeeducation.cjb.net there are still a good few articles on here about globalisation
http://www.indymedia.ie for grassroots non-corporate news, analysis and reportage.
http://www.struggle.ws list of Irish anti-neo-liberal campaigns.
http://www.usi.ie national student union.
http://www.ucdsu.net the hosts of the forum.

save preference

Comments (8 of 8)

Similarly...

by Dermot Looney - UCD SU

Wed Mar 03, 2004 14:59

sudevelopment at ucd dot ie

On March 18th and 19th the education ministers of 30 member countries in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) will meet at Dublin Castle to discuss ‘education policy challenges.’ Chaired by Minister Noel Dempsey, the OECD event will promote a style of discussion, and indeed a style of education, that students themselves have had no participation in.

Students in Ireland can put forward our own agenda in two ways. We can choose to continue the ineffective lobbying and tokenistic protests of today, or we can choose to engage each other in a participatory dialogue, aiming at mobilising an alternative; a grassroots-level, activist-based student movement.

To facilitate the drive towards such a movement, the inaugural Irish Education Forum (IEF) will take place as a counter-summit to the OECD meeting on Thursday March 18th and Friday March 19th. The IEF will comprise a number of plenary sessions and workshops where students and stakeholders in education can come together to advocate a fair and equal public system of education for all.

Plenary sessions and workshops will be hosted in UCD Student Centre, Belfield. They will focus on themes of Access, Internationalisation, Participation and Education as a Public Service.
---------------------------------------
Plenary on Access

Access to education at all levels is a basic tenet of changing society in “developing” countries, but here in “developed” Ireland our record of social inclusion through education is pitiful. The facts are simple.

58% of entrants to third-level education come from the ‘top four’ socio-economic groups (Higher Professional, Lower Professional, Employers and Managers, and Farmers) although these groups only represent 37% of the relevant population.

The ‘lower six’ socio-economic groups (Non-Manual Workers, Manual Skilled Workers, Semi-Skilled Workers, Unskilled Workers, Own Account Workers and Agricultural Workers) represent the remaining 63% of the Irish population but have only 41% of entrants to higher education.

A whole host of other facts are available in College Entry in Focus: A Fourth National Survey of Access in Education, published by the HEA and commonly known as the Clancy Report. It details in tables and graphs what common sense would already have us believe – that while participation for the well-off in higher education remains high, participation for those with backgrounds in socio-economic disadvantage have an appalling record of access to third level.

The issue of access is by no means confined to third level; primary and secondary schooling in particular, and socio-economic circumstance in general are vital in understanding the inequality. The IEF will host a plenary session in which the issue of access can be tackled head-on by students and stakeholders in Irish education, without need to resort to rhetoric or to defer to “authority.” Attendees will receive a comprehensive list of access statistics and will be addressed by academics with research interests in the area.
------------------------------

Plenary on Internationalisation

No longer debatable in the abstract, the concept of internationalisation is now impacting in a tangible way on Irish education with the local face of a neo-liberal driven Irish government. After the defeat of fees last year, cutbacks are being used to force college authorities into an implicit acceptance that funding will have to come from outside taxation.

This is no coincidence. The World Trade Organisation's 'General Agreement on Trade In Services' (GATS) has long defined public services as 'trade barriers' to be eliminated, with no exception for education.

In a discussion on GATS David Kearns, US chair of Xerox, described how ‘businesses will have to set the agenda…a complete restructure driven by competition and market discipline.' Of course, whatever doesn't fit the mould of the speculators will be driven out, unable to compete for private funding as no apparent market value is obvious. In the economic equation there is no room for the social value of free education.

It is no coincidence the IEF is colliding with the meetings of the OECD around the EU presidency here. The formulation of the Lisbon and Bologna process of which education is a part seeks to speed up the internationalisation process within the EU. The EU Commission has after all described GATS as ‘first and foremost an instrument for the benefit of business.’ While international power structures meet behind power doors to decide the fate of our public services with no consultation, there is more need than ever for a flipside response from the students, academics, workers and communities whose real value from education is social rather than economic.

The Irish Education Forum will host a plenary session on the issue of internationalisation with an aim to reaching consensus on fighting the attack on education as a public service as well as focussing on other areas of relevance to the globalisation of education. Speakers will also give an international perspective on the fight for free education and promote discussion on the Bologna Process, GATS, the European Education Forum and other issues affecting education.
------------------------------------------

Plenary on Participation

The late 1960’s saw the rise of a student movement across the world, fuelled not only by new social movements or by opposition to the war in Vietnam, but by a pressing need to involve students in the processes by which we are educated. Irish moves for democratisation and student participation manifested themselves in mass meetings, teach-ins and occupations in a number of colleges.

While many of the moderate demands of the early student movement were met over time, the role of students in Irish education remains minor and subservient to self-appointed “experts” and “authorities.” Students have only tokenistic placements on many college committees and are restricted at both a college and national level in their involvement in decision-making processes vital to their education.

The question of democracy extends into calling into question the current relationship between learner and teacher, the structures and habits governing how lecture, class and educational experience is organised. It is a question which binds together all other issues; access, participation, who makes the decisions and in who’s interest?

As student involvement in student issues remains for the most part confined to the few involved in Students’ Unions or relevant societies, the level of grassroots participation in Irish education remains low. The Irish Education Forum will attempt to bring forward impetus to grassroots activism in education, while speakers will propose alternate models of education where the roles of students in society and in education are examined.

---------------------------
Plenary on Education as a Public Service

Moves towards the privatisation of a number of public services, CIÉ included, will in themselves have a massive impact on students across Ireland. Moves towards the privatisation of Irish education will be even more tangible and, given the recent submission by the Higher Education Authority to the OECD promoting privatisation in Irish universities, relevant in the extreme to today’s student movement.

The state provision of education is designed to serve not only the students who pass through the system, but to serve society in general through benefits from educational research and the development of individuals. Education as a public service is linked into issues of taxation and public funding, to access, to internationalisation and to a host of other government, state, public and student issues.

The only way to spin a profit from education is through commodification, and like all products the only way we can then access it is through paying. Research funded by private interests, as has been the case already in some instances, spells the end of the critical institution. Research that was once public will be swallowed up for the benefit of private coffers. Not only do students and academics suffer, but those who keep our third-level services ticking over face being franchised out to private agencies who answer not to the people, but to a few select shareholders. Privatisation of education is likely to lead to fee-paying colleges run for the benefit of vested interests.

The IEF will seek to examine the current role of the private sector in Irish education and moves to increase the level of corporate activity within education currently underway. The international impact of education privatisation will also be scrutinised, and the role of the student movement in determining the future, or lack thereof, of education as a public service will be discussed.

-------------------------------
Further themes and ideas for workshops are invited. Those interested should get in touch (details below) as soon as possible. The findings of the workshops will be presented at the closing open floor plenary session of the forum. The Irish Education Forum will culminate in a colourful demonstration at Dublin Castle promoting access to education, fighting cutbacks and defending education as a public service.

To organise a delegation, suggest a workshop or receive further information please contact either Paul Dillon, President of UCD Students’ Union on (01) 7163110 or at [email protected], or Aidan Regan, Deputy President of UCDSU on (01) 7163122 and [email protected]. Join the online discussion group by mailing to [email protected].

The Irish Education Forum – 18th-19th March ‘04

Building an Alternative: A Free & Equal Education For All

Irish Education Forum - March 18th & 19th 2004

by Indymedia Ireland Editorial Group - Indymedia Ireland

Sat Mar 06, 2004 21:45

Sideways?

by Upstanding

Sat Mar 06, 2004 23:03

It looked better the right way up

Excellent initiative, well done!

by Eoin Dubsky

Sun Mar 07, 2004 01:27

I hope all the candidates for DCU's student union elections this year (delayed because of a mix up last week) participate in this forum. More importantly though, grassroots student organisers, agitators and educators should try to make it.

I Walk Sideways - sometimes . . . .

by imcer

Sun Mar 07, 2004 04:22

So you can read the dates.

Shuffling about

by Larry M

Sun Mar 07, 2004 05:02

You only walk sideways because you're feeling crabby

Agree with you Eoin

by OK - UCDSU

Mon Mar 08, 2004 13:51

I think you should ask the various candidates what they think of the IEF. And even ask them is they are in favour joining USI. USI is FAR FAR from perfect, but there is a need for all students to be in a single union. Currently UL, CIT, DCU and NUI Maynooth are not in USI.

IMPORTANT UPDATE

by IEF

Thu Mar 11, 2004 03:04

A necessary but unfortunate change has been made to the education forum. The Dublin bus and rail strikes are due to take place at midnight on the 17th and follow through all day on the 18th March. It would therefore not be feasible for willing participants of the forum to make it out to UCD. The plan now is to have the forum as planned on the friday from 10 am to 3pm . After this it is hoped that everyone will continue into the city centre at 4pm to have a mock auction of education outside Dublin Castle.

Number of comments per page

Upcoming Events

New Events

Other Press

User Preferences

Feeds

Blog Feeds

Anti-Empire

Human Rights in Ireland

Lockdown Skeptics

Voltaire Network

The Irish Education Forum; Formulating An Activist Future For Education.

Comments (8 of 8)