If equality and social mobility are regarded as important in a society, that society will provide all with equal access to the whole education system. Either education will be free, or it will be subsidised in such a way that people are not disadvantaged based on their background. Generations in the past have been screwed over by the government, but nothing like the current youth. If you’re tired of being told you are lucky to be able to afford a £200 iPhone by people who bought a house in central London for £21,000, then this campaign is for you. For most of us, if you want to be one of the people who can change the situation we’re in, you’re probably going to need a certain kind of job. And to get those kinds of jobs nowadays, you’re going to need some form of postgraduate qualification. If education isn’t affordable for all, we can never expect to live in a fair society. A lack of funding for higher-education means that the only people who are able to change our country will be the very people who want it to remain the same. To protect our democracy, this must be opposed. On 6th January 2013, the Observer printed a letter from nine UK university vice-chancellors calling for action on the 'policy vacuum' on postgraduate study. Since then, the number of students opting for postgraduate study has fallen by around 16,000 a year. This is despite the importance of postgraduate qualifications skyrocketing in that time. A Confederation of British Industry (CBI) report states that ‘anticipated changes to occupational structure mean that by 2020 nearly half of all employment will be for highly skilled roles.’ Worldwide, the number of high-level jobs that require postgraduate qualifications is growing by roughly 75% per year, according to the Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC). At home, all this means less influence in our society for ordinary British people. As Gary Bell, a man from a working class background who is now a QC specialising in criminal defence, put it in the Guardian yesterday: 'The chances I had just aren't there for deprived young people today.' When Labour introduced university fees and the student loan (as opposed to the grant), Ken Livingston famously accused the Blairites of 'whipping away the ladder that they themselves had climbed.' Of the Tories' current policy, Bell added that: 'The ladder has now been not just whipped away but burned.' The Government is currently considering providing a postgraduate loan for the 2016/17 academic year. However, this loan has already been rejected by six Russell-Group Universities for the following reasons: 1. The loan will be a maximum of £10,000. This figure is lower than the costs of many postgraduate courses and will not provide living costs, even if it covers the course fees. It therefore greatly discourages lower income students - the very problem such loans should be set up to avoid. 2. The rate of repayment is set at 9% on earnings over £21,000. This is the same repayment rate as the undergraduate loans, but they will be paid CONCURRENTLY. Therefore the real figure for almost all students will be 18%. When you add income tax and national security to this, a person with a postgraduate qualification earning £24,000 will end up taking home around £12,000. This figure is only fractionally above minimum wage and, like the minimum, is not sustainable for the vast majority of people. 3. The loan is only available to people under the age of 30. Not only does this rule out the option for any professionals who desire a change of career, but it makes it even more unlikely that people will have time to apply by the time they have paid off their undergraduate loan. We’re looking for the 100,000 signatures required to force the MPs to debate this issue in The House of Commons. Our goal is to make campaigns such as this one unnecessary in future. In the meantime it's up to us to build a fairer society together. THANK YOU in advance. Please SIGN AND SHARE!

Staff at Salford City College, the area’s leading provider for young people, have been presented with a Business Transformation Plan (BTP) which aims to cut vital services at the college in order to fund a forecast £1.5m surplus per annum in future years. This is despite already having cash reserves of £6m. Although it is appreciated that the College needs to find some funds for buildings and equipment, the scale of the cuts to services is too harsh and may lead to a drastic reduction in the quality of service that Salford City College has to offer young people and other learners in the area. Some areas that will be cut are as follows: · Vital mentoring and counselling support, essential for students with mental health and emotional needs · The sale of land at the Walkden Centre, which will cut provision and ultimately affect access to education for learners in the wider deprived areas around Salford · Cuts to teaching staff where it is forecast they will be replaced with E-Learning, where students will have less time in a formal classroom environment There are also serious concerns that the BTP will conflict with the new OFSTED requirements published in June 2015, which will ultimately lead to a greater level of accountability for teachers and a possible downgrading of the college.

To restrict postgraduate funding to very new graduates excludes a vast proportion of the population who could undertake Masters level study to benefit both their own career and the academic institutions at which they study. It discriminates on the grounds of age, when arguably some of the most valuable Masters candidates are those with a good level of industry experience who can bring more than just intelligence to their chosen course. Widening eligibility criteria for government funding is essential to allow proper functioning of postgraduate education and research in the UK.

This is important as without political education or information then some young people do not believe that voting or which political party in government affects them. Politics has changed over the past decades, more people are interested in activism politics and not traditional politics. Without political information being given to young people early then they can have this knowledge for the rest of their lives. In the past, politics was past down from generation to generation, but now this isn't happening then the education needs to step in with advice. Education would be on how government works, voting systems, role of MPs etc, in order to keep the ability for teaching to be unbiased then it will not include information on ideology and political parties. Without political information then who knows what might happen in the future, will voter turnout drop like it did from 1997 to 2001? Sign this important petition to get the secretary of state for education to listen!

Adult education is a source of removing dependency on government resources and hand outs. Adults living in deprivation can go back to college to retrain or gain basic skills so that they can have more confidence to secure better jobs. WHY ARE WE DOING THIS? The department for business, innovation and skills found that further education courses improved the lives of people who had completed them in countless ways. From becoming more employable to being more involved in the local community to better health and well-being. BUT... - The UK government has slashed funding for non-academic (not university based) adult education by a staggering 40% since 2010. - If government cuts continue, adult education will not exist by 2020. Colleges and training agencies have been advised to find other forms of funding. - It is a human right to have access to education at any age. Why should it be limited to our childhood? There are countless reasons why a person may not be able to read and write/speak English/hold qualifications/find a job as an adult. For instance: War Culture that does not encourage the schooling of girls Domestic responsibilities Poverty We believe that everyone should be given the opportunity to access services that may improve the quality of their lives, regardless of age. It is never too late!

In a society with freedom of or from religion, it is unfair and abhorrent to force religious views onto children and young people-- especially in schools that ostensibly welcome those from every walk of life.

The accommodation charges levied by UK universities on students today are astronomical and out of balance with those charged by the private sector on tenants. Most universities charge thousands of pounds for a single room smaller than the average kitchen. In many cases a student’s accommodation charges exceed their maintenance loan and this is on top of the £9000 a year tuition fees. The price charged for student accommodation is putting an intolerable burden of worry and debt on the student and their families who have, in effect, already paid for the accommodation through their taxes. This is leading to many students being forced to remain at home and attend the local university or not attend university at all, to theirs, and the nations, detriment.

All main party leaders should acknowledge the reasons for, and make urgent plans to adequately address, the current crisis in the teaching profession so that teachers are allowed more time and freedom to teach our future generations, rather than spending endless hours on pointless paperwork, worry and illness. I have been a primary school teacher for 13 years but now work as a supply teacher only, having left contracted teaching some five years ago due to stress and illness. The education of young people today is being jeopardised by the unmanageable workload now placed on teachers, much of which consists of pointless paper exercises that seem to serve little or no purpose. There is also a genuine fear of the inspection process which stifles the creativity needed for the best teaching and learning to take place. How can a teacher give of their best and inspire young people when they have no life outside of schoolwork? They have nothing new to bring to the classroom and no energy to excite young minds. It is no wonder that so many newly trained teachers leave the profession so soon, nor that so many retire early. Teachers should be allowed autonomy, without having to constantly provide proof of their expertise. Under such circumstances, recruitment and retention of very good teachers should improve dramatically. Surely, the following article in the Independent would have been signed by far more than 1200 teachers, had the opportunity been available. I know that I would have signed it: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/education-news/teaching-profession-headed-for-crisis-as-numbers-continue-to-drop-and-working-lives-become-unbearable-10203085.html Sign this petition if you are a teacher and you agree with the contents of the article in the Independent.

Assessing value for money in sixth-form education, a recent report published found that academies are able to spend an average of £1,598 more per sixth-form student than sixth-form colleges. The report gives two explanations for this. The government provides funding to academies to meet their VAT, insurance and capital costs in full. Sixth-form colleges, on the other hand, must redirect funding away from frontline education to meet these costs: the average sixth-form colleges pays £335,000 per year in VAT alone.

There are on average one child in every classroom who is colour blind. 1 in 12 boys and 1 in 200 girls. Colour blindness is carried through the male gene which is why it affects more males than females. This can have a big effect on pupils when teachers do not know how to recognise this or have alternative teaching methods. i.e. colours of world flags, Chemistry changes to litmus paper, sports (identifying different team kits, markings on sport hall floors). Some children also have difficulty with coloured writing on coloured backgrounds. Younger children often use coloured blocks for counting and subtracting exercises. My son was in a maths lesson and they were using different coloured blocks for counting, but he used the wrong colour. The teacher then said in front of the class that as he was 8 he should know his colours. My son explained he was colour blind,( which he shouldn't have had too as I had already written to the school twice). The teacher then took my son to one side of the classroom, and held up different coloured blocks and asked him what colour they were. This was very embarrassing for my son and not necessary at all. Colour Blind Awareness are currently running a campaign to have all children tested for colour blindness at their first eye test and also to have teachers trained as standard practice so they know how to teach children who are colour blind.

Cuts to the adult skills budget will mean that one million adults will have no access to learning and skills. The learning and skills system includes more than schools and universities. In the next decade there will be 13.5 million job vacancies and only 7 million young people entering the job market. The best way to meet the shortfall is to train people of working age. Skills shortages require greater investment, not cuts. Politicians are concerned about middle class parents and opportunities for their children to access university or apprenticeships and are unconcerned about the 5 million hard-working people on low pay or the unemployed because they have no voice and are less likely to vote. Adult Education caters for the learning needs of a wide range of people, including many from vulnerable or disadvantaged groups. At a time when 730,000 16-24 year-olds are unemployed and 15% of 16-64 year-olds have no qualifications at all, the continuing programme of cuts is a national scandal. Here are some typical experiences of people who have benefited from adult education - “When I left school, there were no jobs. Luckily college gave me a course. I did some English and maths and now I’m doing great on my tiling course.” “I came here from Afghanistan when I was 15. It was hard at first but I’m on track now at college, studying BTEC science – I really want to do a degree in pharmacy.” I had to leave education early when I got pregnant. Health and social care at college is my path to a career in social work and a better life for me and my kids” “I was an engineer in Colombia. I’m now working as a cleaner and studying plumbing and English at college in the evening. I hope to get a good job after my course.” “I retired last year and was at a real loss. I popped into my local college and I’m now taking photography and still-life. I’m meeting new people and learning new skills.” Investment in adult education not only provides a route out of unemployment and an escape from low-paid jobs, it also offers hope and dignity and can unleash talent, ambition and energy which will benefit society as a whole.

If this is a true Labour value it should be adopted across UK Labour.