Global Education Action Day Unites Global Protest Movement

Worldwide protests climax to global campaign day on Tuesday 11/17/09.
Austrian universities remain occupied. Protests continue to gain support.
Demands are being carried on to Parliament and Vienna Burgtheater.

Global campaign against the sell-out of education
Tuesday the 17.11.09 the world wide protest wave is due to climax under the motto “Education is not for sale!” in form of a campaign day reaching across more than 30 nations. Educational institutions and other groups ranging from Canada to Indonesia are participating in various ways – from demonstrations to flash mobs and public discussion events.

Political activities throughout Austria
The differing international movements are united by one task: the resistance against the sell-out of education and its unconditional subordination to the favour of economic interests. Under this motto creative campaigns and rallies are being held all over Austria throughout the day. At 1pm all university institutes have called for plenary meetings.

Burgtheater as platform for protest
Austrian universities remain occupied. Students prove durability and are claiming more and more public space to increase the pressure for their requests. Saturday the 14.11.09 a couple hundred students interrupted a premier at the Vienna Burgtheater under big applause, to once again raise awareness to the precarious state of the universities.

Extraordinary parliamentary meeting without results
Last Thursday the state of universities was discussed in an extraordinary parliamentary meeting, called up by the opposition. As expected the debate ended without any results. The government is not willing to accept the extent of the problems and is still trying to sit out the protests in traditional Austrian manner.

http://unsereuni.at

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International Day of Action on 17 November 2009 – Press release

Vienna (2009-11-16). On Tuesday, the International Day of Action, there will be protests and demonstrations not only at Austrian Universities, but also in Germany and other European countries. A relevant survey about the student protests 2009 was released today by the Austrian Institute for Youth Culture Research.

Protests are spreading
25th day for the student protests: the University of Gießen (Germany) was occupied yesterday. 40 universities in the German-speaking countries are now part of the protests – among them most of the Austrian Universities and Universities in Berlin, Hamburg, Munich and Basel. In the meantime the protests are even spreading on a European scale. Tomorrow will be the first International Day of Action with planned protests and demonstrations throughout Germany. No less than 15.000 people are expected to join a mass demonstration at Wiesbaden.

Day of Action
In Austria there will be numerous decentralized protests too. In Vienna at least 20 departments of the University of Vienna and other University departments will call plenary meetings tomorrow, starting from 1 pm. “Squatting teachers”, a group of protesting teachers, and the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna are calling for a big demonstration afterwards (3 pm) on Schwarzenbergplatz in front of the Federation of Austrian Industries. A party will be held in the evening at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna to celebrate the 4th week of occupation.

Student protests 2009 – survey release
The Austrian Institute for Youth Culture Research (http://www.jugendkultur.at/index-en.php) conducted a representative survey throughout Austria, which showed that a majority of respondents support the student protests and as many as 50% take part actively. “This is a very important sign of solidarity among students” stressed one of the occupants. According to this survey the most important demands are to stop the commodification of higher education and to guarantee free access to universities for all – without restriction of admission.

The survey revealed that the main difference between supporters and opponents of the protest movement is their view of the role of a university. Supporters want universities which are accessible to all segments of society, whereas opponents want to establish professional training at elite universities.

Contact:
Press team Phone: 0699-19203371
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Homepage: http://unsereuni.at

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Education is NOT for $A£€ - Global Week of Action

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