NAOMA: history and lessons of student struggle
On 10 March this year, students of the National Academy of Fine Arts and Architecture (NAOMA) went on a picket to demand that repairs to their dormitory be started and that communal services prices be reduced. The protest was the culmination of events that began in November last year, when, in the midst of the […]
The Role of Student Demonstrations in Mobilizing People Against Authoritarian Regimes – The Case of Serbia During Mid 90s and Mid 2020s
The winter of 1996/1997 on the streets of Belgrade was as bitterly cold as this one. Yet, just like 28 years ago, students in Serbia’s capital have once again taken to the streets demanding justice and the rule of law. Using their university buildings as safe spaces, these students step out each day at exactly […]
Life of Ukrainian students between neoliberalism and war
In the third year of the full-scale invasion, Ukrainian students are grappling with a stark reality: rather than enhancing social support, the government is scaling back assistance. Many internally displaced persons (IDPs) have seen their payments discontinued, while reforms within the Ministry of Education and Science (MES) pose a threat to higher education accessibility for […]
FeesMustFall: Student Riot Amid a Deferred National Revolution In South Africa
South African student movement #FeesMustFall stopped the increase of the educational fees, forced the government to increase the educational subsidies and expand the financial aid programs for the poor and also brought a new generation of leaders into politics. At the first glance, this is a classical heroic story of the victory of the betrodden […]
Grants and Forced Employment: Whither Ukraine’s Higher Education?
Since the summer of 2023, the issue of educational reforms is back on the agenda. We hear about it from central and local authorities, university rectors, and the media. The “talking heads” of the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine, university administrators, NGO activists, Ukrainian MPs, and others talk about money that “follows the […]
We must fight for the future of Ukrainian education. Interview with the Priama Diia (the Direct Action) student union
On the eve of September 1st, the Day of Knowledge, Commons spoke to activists of the student union Priama Diia about the right to education in a country at war. They explain why they decided to relaunch the union, what obstacles there are to protecting students' rights, and share their plans and dreams for the […]
Will education save the world?
This article was written as part of the work of the economic department of Center for Social and Labor Research. “People get, for example, a degree in law, and then get a job at McDonalds. But they could have worked there before receiving their diploma, and the country could have saved 800 hryvnias on them.” […]
New technology and global inequality
This article was written as part of the work of the economic department of Center for Social and Labor Research. New opportunities, old inequalities Factories without workers, bullet trains and subways without drivers, robot cleaners and smart houses, multifunctional gadgets and 3D printers, electronic marketing, freelancing and sharing economy[i]. Today’s world is getting closer to […]
Science, Crimea and prison bars: persecution of teachers and researchers
Aliona Liasheva, Viktoriia Muliavka The use of science and education for political purposes in Ukraine has become the norm. How has it happened and why is it a terrifying trend? The conference in Yalta For Ukrainian teachers, participation in a scientific event in Crimea resulted in dismissals and monitoring by The Security Service of Ukraine […]
Decades of investment in education have not improved social mobility
John Goldthorpe It is widely believed in political circles, and among the commentariat, that in Britain today social mobility is in decline. This is not, in fact, the case, as a new research programme led by Professor Erzsébet Bukodi of the Department of Social Policy and Intervention at Oxford University shows. But the preoccupation with […]
