Mahasiswa di London Protes Kenaikan Uang Kuliah
Students Protest in London Against Rising Tuition Fees
Editor : Cahyani Harzi
Translator : Parulian Manalu
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London (B2B) - Puluhan ribu mahasiswa di London berpawai di sepanjang kota, Rabu (21/11) guna memprotes kenaikan biaya kuliah.
Menurut Uni Mahasiswa Nasional (NUS), penyelenggara kegiatan itu, sebanyak 10.000 mahasiswa bergabung dalam demonstrasi ini sehingga menjadikannya pawai terbesar mahasiswa sejak 2010, ketika sebanyak 50.000 mahasiswa dilaporkan turun ke jalan dan menduduki kampus mereka.
"Pemerintah telah menaikkan hingga tiga kali lipat biaya kuliah jadi 9.000 pound (US$14.300) dan memotong tunjangan pemeliharaan pendidikan dan anggaran pengajaran universitas sampai 80 persen," demikian isi surat elektronik yang beredar di kalangan mahasiswa.
"Sementara itu, biaya kuliah tingkat pascasarjana dan internasional tak dibatasi dan naik setiap tahun. Beban bayaran bagi pendidikan disalurkan dari negara ke perorangan, sehingga membebani mahasiswa dengan utang sebanyak 60 ribu pound untuk tingkat sarjana muda di London," tambah pernyataan tersebut sebagaimana dikutip Xinhua.
Pemimpin NUS Liam Burns, sebagaimana dikutip BBC, mengatakan kebijakan baru pendidikan membatasi akses bagi mahasiswa masa depan dan menciptakan rintangan baru bagi orang yang belajar saat ini.
"Pendidikan mesti membuka pintu, tapi pemerintah membanting pintu itu hingga tertutup," katanya.
London - Tens of thousands of students in London marched through the city on Wednesday to protest against a hike in university tuition fees.
According to National Union of Students (NUS), organizer of the event, some 10,000 students joined in the demonstration making it the biggest student march since 2010, when a reported 50,000 took to the streets and occupied their campuses.
"The government has tripled undergraduate tuition fees to 9,000 pounds (14,300 U.S. dollars), and cut the education maintenance allowance and university teaching budgets by 80 percent," an email circulated among students said.
"Meanwhile, postgraduate and international fees are unlimited and are rising every year. The burden of paying for education is being passed from the state to the individual, saddling students with as much as 60,000 pounds of debt for an undergraduate degree in London," it added.
NUS leader Liam Burns was quoted by the BBC as saying the new education policies "restrict access for future students and create new barriers for those currently studying."
"Education should open doors, but the government is slamming them shut," he said.
