250,000 Germans call for free education for All, The Morning Star Online, Thurs. 18 June 2009

The Morning Star Online
http://www.morningstaronline.co.uk/index.php/layout/set/print/content/view/full/76893














A quarter of a million teachers, students and children marched in cities
across Germany on Wednesday to demand that the government boost investment
to ensure free education for all.

In 80 towns and cities including Berlin, Mainz, Duesseldorf and Munich, as
well as in university towns such as Heidelberg and Goettingen, marchers
carried their trade union banners and placards reading: "Cough up the cash,
rise up against social bandits," "Save education, not only the banks" and
"Investment in education = guaranteed returns."

Protesters were overwhelmingly peaceful, but some young activists took
direct action, blocking the entrances to university buildings and occupying
administrative offices.

In Mainz, many protesters took over a state parliament building and covered
it in toilet paper.

Since the German constitutional court ruled in 2005 that state governments
could start levying tuition fees, around half of them have, while others are
in the process of doing so.

The protesters are concerned that this is resulting in a two-tier education
system, with budgets for some universities slashed while funds have been
injected into "world class" establishments like the Einstein Foundation in
Berlin.

A core demand was free education for all and protesters also called for
smaller class sizes and better training for teachers and lecturers.

In Berlin, where around 30,000 students took to the streets, they chanted:
"We're here and we're loud because our education is being stolen."

University of Potsdam student Marlene Gesche explained that she marched in
Berlin because she felt cheated out of a decent education due to
insufficient funding.

"I'm here protesting because I'm not really learning anything at my
university," Ms Gesche said, adding that "there's no money for books and
often a lack of instructors."

But ministers insist that German education standards have risen in recent
years.

And while German Rectors Conference head Margret Wintermantel acknowledged
that "the student-teacher ratio is a problem," she sought to defend the
introduction of fees.

"It's wrong to say that tuition fees limit equal opportunity for access to
higher education," she asserted, claiming that "we haven't seen a decline in
attendance where tuition fees have been introduced."

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Posted By Rebel Youth to rebel youth

6/18/2009 PM