Students have wrote to SCAN giving their opinions on the University and College Union strikes. Read them below:
I want to support the lecturers who clearly have valid reasons for the strikes, and many of my lecturers have explained their reasonings to us personally as well as making themselves as accessible as possible while adhering to the strike rules. However, it is an issue when I’m a third-year who has been affected significantly by strikes for all three of my years here. While I support them personally it’s concerning to be investing so much money on education I’m not receiving especially as this year my dissertation is at risk and as such my final graduation grade.
Anonymous Student 1
I fully support the cause of the staff striking. However, the strikes are massively disruptive to the learning of the students. The majority of students will be missing out on valuable content, as well as losing the opportunity to become fully invested in certain modules.
Anonymous Student 2
Though I understand the lecturers’ reasons for striking, and support them in their endeavours, I am nevertheless concerned about the impact these strikes will have on my final grades, particularly for those units in which I have an exam I will not have studied nearly half the content for. While I appreciate that many have apologised personally, and are doing whatever they can to be helpful, the fact I effectively have to teach myself parts of the course makes me extremely worried that my knowledge will not be at the standard required to achieve my desired final grades. The strikes may be trying to solve some important problems, but as someone who has not caused those problems, I am displeased to somehow be facing the largest backlash from them.
Anonymous Student 3
I haven’t really looked into the reasons behind the strikes, as I have not been affected by them this term. I only have 5 hours of contact time a week, so my schedule already revolves around me being independent and vigilant without a lot of supervision. From what I can gather the strikes are necessary for the staff who choose to do so, and I hope they gain something from this. Albeit, I can understand it’s incredibly frustrating for students, especially for ones who have their dissertations due, as we already pay so much and the strikes from last term have not helped.
Anonymous Student 4
I understand the frustration from every party involved, especially students who feel short-changed by both a lack of direct voice in the discussions and a lack of contact time as a result of the strikes. However, I think any anger felt by students needs to be directed at the University management themselves, because the only reason any of this is happening in the first place is that they are not treating the teaching staff with enough respect and fairness. No matter how uncomfortable it might be for us, the staff are losing parts of their livelihoods and the relationships they have with their line managers because they believe so strongly in their rights to fair pay and contracts – they are sacrificing at least as much as any student, if not in some cases far more.
Anonymous Student 5
