The UCU Left is a national organisation of University and College Union activists. It is committed to ensuring that the new union has a democratic structure through which members can determine policy, and elected officers and professional officials can be held accountable. It seeks to defend educational equality, and to oppose the consequences of neo-liberal marketisation. It is opposed to all forms of racism, sexism, oppression and imperialism.

Further Education Manifesto

Sean Vernell (Manifesto author and UCU NEC Member)

Further Education faces the most serious attacks since incorporation; Cuts in Adult Education and ESOL; redundancies and workload spiralling out of control. The ability for FE to provide the second chance to millions of people is being eroded. The narrow vision of the government with its emphasis on the vocationalisation of the curriculum will mean that millions of people will not be able to benefit from the sector in the way that they once could. Many of us are involved in fighting trench by trench to defend our Further Education Sector. We believe this fight needs to be strengthened and generalised so that we have a sector wide response to such attacks.

Alongside these campaigns to defend FE we need to put forward what we are for – our alternative vision to the market and the rigours of competition that incorporation has ushered in. This is hopefully what the manifesto for further education has attempted to do. We need to go on the offensive to create a debate within the sector about what kind of FE sector is necessary to meet the needs of the communities we serve. The manifesto is an initiative that London Region UCU has taken to start this debate and also to provide a guide to action in your college. 10,000 copies have been produced by the region, one for every member in UCU FE in London. It also has an introduction by Paul Mackney.

Please raise in your next branch or region meeting support for the manifesto and get as many individuals to sign up to it as well. We welcome any and all comments or amendments to the manifesto.

Downloadable copy of the manifesto (pdf)

Endorse the FE Manifesto - Sign Here

News report in the Guardian (14/12/2006) (here)

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