Education

Academies run ‘on the basis of fear’
Wakefield City Academies Trust (WCAT) was described in a damning report as an organisation run 'on the basis of fear'. Jon Trickett MP examines an education system in crisis.

University should not be a debt factory
Sheldon Ridley spoke to students taking part in their first national demonstration.

The abolition of Art History A-Level will exacerbate social inequality
This is a massive blow to the rights of ordinary kids to have the same opportunities as their more privileged peers. Danielle Child reports.

Occupation education
Following the recent wave of university occupations across London, Ben Wilson looks at the emerging Free University of London, a radical alternative to the current higher education model

Lessons from the global education struggle
Anna Wolmuth talks to US teacher and writer Lois Weiner about what the UK can learn from global education struggles

Companies profit from ‘flat pack’ schools
Mary Compton describes how big corporations are profiting from some of the world’s poorest schools

GERM – neoliberal policy infecting the world’s classrooms
Susan Robertson explains how the neoliberal mantra of ‘choice’, tests and privatisation is poisoning our education systems worldwide

Chicago teachers demonstrate a new approach to organising
A strike by Chicago teachers shows how unions can resist the dismantling of public education. Micah Uetricht takes up the story

Unequal opportunities
Ken Jones says Michael Gove’s new system for testing pupils will exacerbate inequality

Summer event: the Spark
A week of workshops, films, discussions, poetry, music, art and more, looking at the fight for social justice in the UK and around the world to take place in June

Free schools: freedom for whom?
Andrew Dolan looks at the problems posed by free schools

Arrested, suspended, then banned from elections: my student experience, by Deborah Hermanns
University of Birmingham student Deborah Hermanns describes her experience of being arrested, released without charge and subsequently suspended from university and banned from running in the Birmingham Guild of Students elections

#3Cosas: University Of London workers protest
Novara Media reports from the 3Cosas demonstration at Senate House

Demonstration to save the University of London Union
Students and workers to mobilise on Wednesday 13th November to fight the closure of ULU

Back to class: free schools and academies mythbuster
Red Pepper looks at the myths surrounding academies and free schools

Not playing by the book: radical children’s reads
Children’s literature can be an important playground for kids to think critically and conceive of a better world. Kitty Webster explores what’s out there for little rebels to read

Teachers: ‘There is no other option but to strike’
John Millington reports from today's teachers' walkout and rally

A spanner in the works of university privatisation
Max Watson of London Metropolitan University’s Unison branch describes how its members helped stave off privatisation proposals at the university

New terms for teachers
Donald Morrison examines what the explosive growth in academy schools means for teachers

The students’ moment
Student activist Michael Chessum reflects on the state of the fight against the Tories’ education reforms

’19th-century inequalities in shiny classrooms’: Melissa Benn on the future of schools
Melissa Benn, author of School Wars, discusses education with teacher Anna Wolmuth

After the flash bulb
Student article competition winner Kit Withnail calls for others to stand with the movement

Higher education: the lie-busting low-down
Cristina Delgado Garcia and Luke Yates explain why university cuts aren’t fair or needed

The Wembley way
The struggle against a city academy in north London controlled by a group of hedge fund managers might be a sign of things to come. Hank and Jean Roberts tell the story of the campaign

Academy alarm
As Tory education secretary Michael Gove pushes through legislation to 'put the boosters' under Labour's school academies programme, Fiona Millar explains her concerns

A good local school for everyone
Donald Morrison says if the Tories get their way more money will be taken away from the public sector and handed over to private profiteers

Trouble at the sausage factory
Leeds students Andre Pusey and Leon Sealey-Huggins report on the fight against higher education cuts and its connection to the wider battle against the current neoliberal role and form of universities

Mrs Chips
From school meals to school selection policies, Margaret Tulloch has been a tireless campaigner for state education for half a lifetime. She spoke to Laurie Penny

Beyond town and gown
The relationship between students and locals is fraught with long-held mistrust and resentment. Ex-student Jenny Nelson looks at the colourful history of these often segregated communities, and meets some of the student activists who are trying to break out of the ghettos they've inherited

Students are citizens too
With 'top-up' fees and increasing debt leaving many students less willing to fight for anyone but themselves, London School of Economics union president Aled Fisher argues for more, not less, participation in wider politics