As part of the Elected Officers' fight against the marketisation of higher education, the #LoveYourEducation campaign promotes the importance of making university sustainable and accessible to all.
Whether you love nights out, your favourite society, or walks in the woods, we all came to Keele to study. But as the cost of university increases, are we getting more for our money? If the university are passionate about teaching, why are lecturers more overworked than ever? If we love our education, we need to make sure the university values it, from the people delivering lectures to the people attending them.
Education shouldn't be about selling it to those who can afford it, but making sure it's accessible to all. Education shouldn't be about selling you a degree, but transforming your future. Education shouldn't be about the cheapest possible delivery, but being shaped directly by the students receiving it.
We don't want to see university get more expensive while students and academics are put under more financial stress. Instead, we want to make our education something built in partnership by the university and its students, with everyone at Keele given every chance to engage fully, and have the experience that makes being at Keele so enjoyable.
That's why we want you to #LoveYourEducation and help us challenge the marketisation of higher education - the trend toward running Keele (and other universities) as a business, trying to make as much money as possible instead of a place of learning where students are able to thrive as part of a real community.
This campaign is an awareness campaign to highlight the effects of the growing marketisation of higher education. If you pick any random student and ask ‘What is the marketisation of higher education’, I'm sure their answer would be met with a blank stare (I would've had the same reaction too). If you pick any random student and ask ‘Make a list of things that's wrong with your Education’ however, I'm sure you'll be talking for the next hour and most problems on that list are a symptom of the root cause that is, the Marketisation of Education.
Holly Brooks, Keele SU Union Development and Democracy Officer
How can I get involved?
This is primarily a campaign to raise awareness of the issues caused by the marketisation of education, so there aren't going to be a great deal of activities. However, we still have a number of events throughout the week where we want as many students as possible to get involved. We'll be updating this page as these events are confirmed to let you know in full how you can take part.