‘9k for what?’: A protest over university fees is happening in Newcastle next week

A Newcastle student has organised the “9k for what” demonstration due to happen on Halloween, in order to voice the opinions of students about tuition fees and rent for the academic year.

The Facebook event for 31st October has over 500 people interested, many of these students who feel they have been affected by Covid-19.

The event is happening at Grey Monument and those who attend must obey all social distancing rules.

The demonstration comes after students have faced major changes in their teaching for the academic year, with Newcastle university moving all non-essential teaching online for the foreseeable future, and the large numbers of Covid cases across both universities in Newcastle.

The organiser, Unity Addison, said: “I organised this protest as I believe that students have been taken advantage of this year. Despite the pandemic, universities told students it was safe to move to a different city, live with strangers and were promised a blended approach to learning but unfortunately this hasn’t been the case.

Despite lecturers best efforts and continuous hard work, they are having to offer substandard courses to their students, which will put these students at a disadvantage after graduating.”

The aim of the demonstration is to show how students feel about the current teaching methods. Unity states, “I’m hoping it will send a clear message to the government that students need more support. We want to make the government aware that they are responsible for reconciling their failures and have a duty to put right their mistakes. Collectively students from across the country have come to an agreement that fees must be reimbursed.”

As it is on Halloween, students are encouraged to dress up, however, this is not necessary to attend.

The event page states that it will be fully socially distanced and masks must be worn.

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