This year I was elected as one of the delegates to the NUS Conference, where I successfully proposed Oxford’s motion to change NUS policy on the public ownership of student loans. I was also elected to the NUS National Executive Council at the Disabled Students’ Conference. The NUS is Britain’s second largest member organisation – here, I’ll briefly explain how it works and how you can get more involved.
NUS policy is written by students. Here in Oxford, myself and others wrote a motion opposing the privatisation of student loans, which could lead to higher interest rates of repayment on loans for students. OUSU Council passed this, as did the NUS Conference – where the delegates of every affi liated students’ union were able to vote. Hundreds of other student unions did the same, across all the different liberation campaigns (BME, LGBT, Women and Disabled). This is how the NUS democratically decides how it will represent students – despite the diverse political opinions students have.
For those who doubt how students can influence the NUS, this year, at Oxford, we’ve shown that we actually can help determine what the NUS’s policies are. From that point it is the responsibility of the National Executive Council, which is elected at the National Conference and at the Liberation Conferences, to implement these policies.
As a result of Oxford students’ decisions, next year the NUS is going to be campaigning against tuition fees, for the living wage, for better rights for student tenants, among a host of other policies that students unions voted on. In particular, I’m focusing on stopping cuts to the Disabled Students’ Allowance, which mean lots of disabled students here in Oxford will lose specialist equipment they need to study.
Finally, it’s worth mentioning that I don’t always agree with the politics of NUS, or the stances it takes. It’s a union of seven million members, and your view won’t always be in the majority in a vote. But I invite anyone genuinely concerned about the student movement, the state of education or education cuts to get involved. Write a motion for one of next year’s conferences or run to be a delegate. Behind all of the policy, the NUS’s strength can only come from students being
