Yesterday the strike on our campus started. I also put up my tent to support the opposition against bad educational policy in Germany. Unfortunately many of our German politicians seem to think, that it is a good idea to save money in the educational sector by announcing positive changes which are actually nothing more but ideas on how money can be saved. This of course is a desaster for schools and universities lacking money.
I particularly liked one of the proposed paroles for our flags which said: “If education was a bank you would have saved it a long time ago!” Part of the strike is the Campus-camp behind the universities main building. Most tenting strikers had a lot of fun, a teenaged band was playing coversongs, some students had a small barbecue others played frisbee or like me and my son viking chess also known as cub. This is a funny game where two teams throw sticks against the other teams pawns. After the pawns are out, the king can be attacked. I´m not particularly good at this but I like the game anyway since it is tons of fun.
We helped to cut the cloth for the flags and paint them for the strike. There will be students walking through town carrying these flags on June 17th. More information can be found under http://www.bildungsstreik2009.de
The band played untill late at night so me and Jeremy had to leave since he was very very tired and needed some rest. We were a bit sad that staying overnight was impossible for us but I hope the strike will be continued and more people come and put up their tents too.
jasve said,
July 12, 2009 at 4:56 pm
Hi Kounila,
by now the strike is over part of it was a demonstration march through the city. About 2000 students joined this march. Sitting students blocked the traffic for some time but everything stayed peaceful and I think the strike was very successful. I hope that it has raised awareness for existing problems in the educational sector.
Have a nice sunday evening!