NCAFC resource: an informal intro to school and college outreach, for university student activists

To facilitate inter-institutional solidarity and general awesomeness We all know how awesome school and college students are, and how important it is to have their energy and ideas at protests and actions. What would Millbank and the Days of Action last year have been without them? We NEED that this year, and they need to be out with us and organising with us as much as possible too. It is they who will inherit a Higher Education system that the government is doing its utmost to pulverise beyond belief and beyond access to anyone under-privileged; it is their schools and colleges getting systematically battered by privatisation, cuts and undemocratic restructuring. And lets be honest, there was already plenty about schools that reinforced social inequalities or messed people up through over-authoritarian disciplinary procedures. Meanwhile the combination of high youth unemployment, EMA being scrapped and staggeringly high tuition fees to come is forcing a darker future onto hundreds of thousands of kids, and they know it. There are plenty who are up for fighting this, and there are also plenty who have experience from last year to use. But, theres hardly anything by way of organised networks of activist-type school and college students, and obviously a high turnover rate, so many if not most school and college students wont have heard of upcoming actions or know what to do about them. Many will be feeling disheartened after we lost the vote on fees last year, and could do with encouragement. Many will also have various concerns or issues that hold them back from getting stuck in, or just not really know where to start. Thats where we can come in, as student activists with our own resources, ideas and experiences to share. We can also get inspired by what school and college students have done already and get ideas from them for our organisations and campaigns on campuses and beyond. Furthermore, the riots this summer show beyond doubt that lots of young people are burning with intense anger, frustration and willingness to take some pretty extreme action. The vile police and mainstream media reaction to the riots will also have entrenched some of the problems that made young people so angry in the first place, so working together to make a democratic, creative movement of resistance across institutions and ages is even more urgent than ever. Unfortunately, many student activists dont bother linking up with school and college students, for various reasons. Some may have soaked up the all-too-common portrayal of young people as homogenously apathetic consumers. Hopefully the walkouts of last year put paid to that patronising bullshit. Maybe some people are so relieved to not be in school any more that they dont want anything to do with the issue. More likely is that

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they just dont really understand where to start and what are the important issues affecting school and college students.

Tactics
This is all general advice or examples of good practice of course the situation will vary wildly, youll be able to work out whats necessary.

Step 1: Linking up
Option a) Try to get an in Knowing someone enthusiastic at the school or college is not necessary at all, but can make all the difference. If you havent met any local school or college students at any political events, go back to your old schools or if you have family at a local school and ask around. You can also look up which local schools had university occupations last year and see if your uni group or anyone you know still has contact details. Otherwise, get in touch with teachers you know, or get in touch with trade unions through their regional representatives, and ask them to put you in touch with the union representatives at specific schools. Option b) Leafleting the unknown First of all, find out the lunch and end of school hours of the school or college youre heading to. Get there a few minutes early, and get ready to be friendly and chatty. Maybe come representing a group, like your university anti-cuts group or occupation. Remember, this is a two way partnership, and you should ask the people you meet what they think about whats happening, what they want to do about it, if they did anything last year. Youre there to facilitate, give ideas and link people up, not to tell them what to do! Dont worry about coming across as a threatening adult, and it is legal for you to be there outside the school gates. It would be good to have leaflets put together specifically aimed at school and college students perhaps with slightly simpler language and mentioning school-specific issues (see below).

Step 2: Setting things up

So youve got some activist-ey friends now what? Well, you could hold joint meetings or go and speak at their school, if thats possible. You should invite them to your university meetings or occupations. Make it clear that school students are valued and welcome, that you want to hear their experiences. This is crucial! Remember how intimidating and alien activism can be so many school and college students, though of course there are many others with the confidence to get stuck in no matter what. But our job is also to enable those without the confidence to participate just as much.

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Ultimately its up to them where to take it, but we can help with building their actions (printing their leaflets in our SUs, flyposting, social networks etc) and with ideas on how to make walkouts more interesting, as well as helping them get to local protests themed flashmobs, picnics, workshops, free schools, open assemblies, banner drops, marches between local schools, and the like. Camden School or Girls even held an overnight occupation of their school before a protest last year! Avoid disempowering set-ups where they get talked at, or just having them leave school on a walkout with no plans of what to do once theyre out. Also, give them a heads up on some basic protest security go on actions in buddies or with an affinity group of people who are up for the same amount of risk. Have numbers of solicitors written on arms (Bindmans are good - 020 7833 4433) to call if they get arrested. Advise people to cover their faces if they feel at risk of arrest for whatever reason. You can also help by organising a direct action/ protest security training session for them to go to contact Green and Black Cross http://greenandblackcross.org/ to get them to set one up.

Keep in mind...
Remember were in this fight for the long haul, so think about how to foster a culture of resistance and democratic organisation, as well as how to get as many as possible out for the next action. That means talking about forms of organisation (school students unions? Youth action committees?) and encouraging school and FE students to consider issues like inclusivity, empowerment, delegation and avoiding hierarchies in their organisations. Helping organise facilitation workshops is a good example, but youll find many more ways of helping out. It means not taking any kind of patronising role, but rather seeing ourselves as partners in solidarity.

So... What are the main issues facing school and FE (Further Education colleges) students these days?

All the problems affecting university students are threats hovering over the heads of school and college students. Our fight is their fight too. There are several further issues facing them: Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA) Based on parental income, it gave some 16+ year olds a vital 10 - 30 a week. No one should have to suffer for choosing to stay on in education, so EMA must be immediately reinstated and extended. www.saveema.co.uk Academies & privatisation The Academies programme takes schools out of accountable local authority control and provides funding direct from central government, usually via a

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sponsor who exerts a lot of control over the ethos and curriculum of the school - this could be a rich businessman, a religious group, an edu-business... also breaking up national pay agreements for staff in the process. Academies tend to be more authoritarian and much less democratic than local authority comprehensive schools and there have been many local campaigns against Academy conversions, some successful. Look out for any in your area. Private control over education is also on the increase through free schools (like private schools but paid for by the state), PFI (Private Finance Initiatives), mergers and restructuring. www.antiacademies.org.uk Mass closures of youth services From support services like Connexions to sports centres and youth clubs, youth services around the country are being decimated. In many areas, many if not most have already closed - giving the message that nobody cares about enriching young peoples lives, as well as taking away so much that was relied on and improved peoples quality of life. http://tiny.cc/vr643 Unemployment & fees Youth unemployment is twice the national average and at its highest for 20 years, so many of those who cant afford to stay on at college without EMA have even fewer options available to them. Meanwhile more of their parents are becoming unemployed or on worse conditions, consumer and student debt builds up terrifyingly in millions of families and the minimum wage for 16 18 year olds is a disgraceful 3.64 an hour. Many more 16 19 year olds are in paid apprenticeships at an even paltrier 2.50 an hour, or even forced to work unpaid internships in the hope of future employment. This makes the idea of taking on massive debts from university even more terrifying, meaning that increasing numbers are deterred from studying purely for financial reasons. Demonisation Young people, especially ethnic minorities and/ or those in working class areas, suffer constant discrimination (from police, employers, the legal system, people around them) and from the vile media narratives of homogenously criminal feral youths. Ethos of education School disciplinary procedures can be brutal, useless and often penalise politically active people. Meanwhile gearing education towards exams is stultifying and frustrating, mimicking the desperate alienation that too many of us will face in employment throughout our lives, rather than upholding education and creativity as an antidote. Government plans to increase schools disciplinary powers and bring back terrible traditional learning by rote (excuse me while make this worse. Democracy School councils tokenistic affairs that the majority

methods like I puke) will only (Lack of) tend to be

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of students dont even know about. Any decision that management agree with will be overruled. Meanwhile NUS doesnt represent school students at all, and does a poor job of looking after FE students. Some school and FE students have discussed forming school students unions that could represent their interests in everything from resources to discipline issues, uniform to whether the school becomes an academy. And, they could threaten to walk out if they arent taken seriously! A brilliant idea, worth spreading. http://londonssu.org.uk/ https://www.facebook.com/groups/193708617324690/ National Curriculum Already restrictive, its going to get worse. Michael Gove (Education secretary) wants to ideologically restructure large parts of the curriculum, especially history to make it a nationalistic celebration of British imperial history, with none other than Empire-enthusiast Niall Fergusan having an input! To the dismay of teachers and historians throughout the

country. http://www.newstatesman.com/blogs/the-staggers/2010/06/history-britishferguson

Useful contacts
Trade unions The teaching unions all have anti-privatisation and free education policies, so theyre meant to work with us and often will do a great job. If youre organising an action, contact your local or national unions as appropriate and ask if they can put you in touch with the union representative at the schools youre going to. You can also ask them for financial support donations can go on printing leaflets, providing placards, paying for activists travel or legal costs, booking rooms for meetings etc. Teaching & lecturers unions: NUT www.teachers.org.uk, NASUWT www.nasuwt.org.uk, ATL www.atl.org.uk, EIS (Scottish) www.eis.org.uk UCU www.ucu.org.uk Radical syndicalist unions: (especially good for organising unofficial/ direct actions) International Workers of the World www.iww.org.uk, Solidarity Federation www.solfed.org.uk National Union of Students: www.nus.org.uk, NUS FE section http://www.nus.org.uk/en/Campaigns/Further-Education/ Campaigns

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These and local campaigns can provide resources and support, similarly to trade unions but with less bureaucracy, and less money too. Ask campaign members to come with you while leafleting, or to run joint events. UkUncut (local and national actions against the cuts, for taxing the rich more) www.ukuncut.org.uk Anti-Academies Alliance www.antiacademies.org.uk Save EMA campaign www.saveema.org.uk National Campaign Against Fees and Cuts www.anticuts.com Education Activist Network www.educationactivistnetwork.wordpress.com National School Students Union - (currently inactive but might be worth messaging some of the facebook members/ posters https://www.facebook.com/groups/193708617324690/ Local anti-cuts groups - (see sidebar) http://anticuts.org.uk/ Protest safety Green & Black Cross Legal and practical support for activists, by activists www.greenandblackcross.org and email gbc@riseup.net to organise action and protest safety training. Sukey (smartphone app for keeping demonstrators safe, mobile and sound) www.sukey.org

Challenges and overcoming them

Yes, itll be tough at times. Many school and college students will still not know whats going on or think they should or can do anything about it. Some may think that weve lost now that the votes over. Be ready to ask people how they feel and what they experienced, and to explain that theres a lot left to fight and that policy can be overturned , or that building a movement of democratic resistance is a long term thing! Also, you might face problems from hostile teachers telling you to stay away. Remember, the area outside the school is not under their control. You can always come back another time if you think its not worth fighting over. Leafleting the same place more than once is a good idea anyway to show that youre serious, especially in areas where youve had some luck. You can also make leafleting more interesting by bringing along stickers or badges to give out. Some students will be worried about disciplinary consequences for taking action, and with good reason. Students have been given detention and even suspended for organising protests. Theres a lot that can be done though. Solidarity between students works wonders in one area, friends from a few schools leafleted each others schools so that if the schools management asked who was leafleting, it was always someone from another school. Elsewhere, someone was given several detentions and many of their schoolmates came and sat detention with them their punishment was cut short. There are often similar creative options. Furthermore, individual teachers may be supportive and help protect known ringleaders.

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Students may worry about being isolated. Remind them that this is a community-wide issue, and they should treat it as such write to local papers and anti-cuts campaigns, flyer and poster public spaces, get residents groups involved if possible. The specifics will vary hugely depending on the area.

NB: This resource was made in September 2011 in preparation for the education protest on November 9th, but can and should be used by anyone in future! For more info about the national demo and other education-related issues, see www.anticuts.com or for helping out with schools outreach, email tali.jk@gmail.com Photos have been taken from google images and lefty websites without permission. Sorry!

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