ESU Welcomes new Israeli Member

December 10th 2007: ESU and all its’ members would like to extend a warm welcome to our new Israeli member, NUIS (The National Union of Israeli Students). The ESU board granted NUIS membership at the 53rd Board meeting held in Vilnius last week. NUIS is not the only national student union in Israel, but is by all accounts the largest, representing around 250 000 students who are members of NUIS’s member unions.

The other union – The National Students’ Organisation (NSO) – claims to represent around 50,000 students.

There exists little rivalry between the two unions and discussions are underway to unite the two organisations. The President of the NSO explained that his union does not deal with international issues or have international contacts and expressed solidarity with NUIS.  The ESU study visit team held a meeting with Professor Yuly Tamir – the Minister of Education of Israel –during which she explained that the ministry deals with both organisations and listens to their views.

The main activities planned by NUIS for the coming year are the following: The second stage of the NUIS Campaign Against Increasing Tuition Fees: The “Shohat” Committee Report on Tuition Fees

Main goals:

• Construct a position paper regarding the failures appearing in the Shohat Report and examine the failures that should be improved in the higher education system.

• Prepare an alternative model of tuition fees that reflects the students’ position, taking into consideration the data and demands passed on during the committee’s discussions.

The ESU study visit team found that NUIS fulfilled all the criteria necessary to aspire to membership and was happy to recommend that the board grant membership to this strong organisation. ESU board members look forward to future cooperation and exchange and fully back NUISes struggle against tuition fees.