NUS Vice President Higher Education, Alex Stanley, recounts his time at Party Conferences.
Over the last few weeks, the NUS Officer team have attended four party conferences- that of the Greens, Liberal Democrats, Labour and the Conservatives.
At nearly every sector event we attended, or spoke at, there was one clear notion that kept coming up- being a student is becoming more and more difficult financially and urgent government intervention is needed. Under the previous government, tuition fees trebled, maintenance grants were scrapped, loans took a real-terms cut, and student poverty grew at an alarming rate. It is a sign of how much support there is for greater provision for students both within political parties and the wider sector that rather than bashing higher education with labels of ‘mickey mouse degrees’ and other culture wars, the focus appears to have shifted to financial sustainability for both institutions and those who learn within them.
But what did we get up to?
Myself and the rest of the officers spoke on a variety of panels, rallies, and events, ensuring that when education was discussed there was always a student voice in the room.
At Green Party Conference, Amira (NUS UK President) spoke on the need for higher education to be seen as, and funded like, a public good at the UCU’s ‘The Fight for Public Higher Education’.
At Labour Conference, Amira spoke once again on a UCU panel, this time on ‘The Return of Class Politics’, as well as appearing at the Autonomy Institute’s fringe on ‘Organising in the 2020s’. Qasim (Vice President Further Education) highlighted the importance of support our FE institutions during a panel on ‘The role of colleges in delivering on Labour’s five missions’ hosted by Association of Colleges, whilst Saranya (Vice President Liberation and Equality) gave a passionate speech in solidarity with the trans community as part of Labour for Trans Rights’ Conference Rally.
At Conservative Conference, I, as your Vice President Higher Education, was tasked with making the case for more support for students on a panel outlining the ‘Conservative approach to Higher Education’, hosted by HEPI.
In Liverpool (for Labour Conference), we also had the exciting opportunity to host our own event: ‘Made in Students’ Unions’. At this event, we were joined by hundreds of Conference attendees- from MPs and former Ministers, sector stakeholders, Students’ Union Officers, former NUS Officers and (most importantly) students. ‘Made in Students’ Unions’ was a chance to celebrate the impact of those who had come through our movement and gone on to achieve incredible things.
On top of all of this, in between panels and receptions, we met with various stakeholders from across the sector: MPs, university leaders, trade union representatives and so many others- making the case that student issues should be right at the top of the Government’s agenda.
Conclusion
Overall, party conference season was actually a fantastic metaphor for what life is like in student politics- incredibly tiring, sometimes a bit all of the place, but also intensely rewarding. The last few years have been some of the most challenging the student movement has faced in a long time, but I and the new Officer Team, alongside Sabbatical Officers and students across the country, will fight tirelessly in the corner of students and apprentices, and we are encouraged by the change in rhetoric around education and students shown by this new Government. But whilst words are a good starting point, they alone cannot be a catalyst for change, and so we look forward to working constructively with Government, and the sector more widely, to deliver the change that our members deserve.
