ESU worried about education budgets cuts on International Students’ Day

BRUSSELS – On International Students’ Day, the European Students’ Union is sending out a warning to all national and global leaders to stop cutting down on higher education. ESU’s Chairperson, Allan Päll said: “All over the world, we see that governments are spending less and less on higher education. This must come to an end. If we continue on this path, then soon only students from well-off families will be able to go to university. This will be devastating for societies in the long run.”

On November 17, 1939, nine students and professors were executed by the Nazi authorities in Prague after a funeral march that turned into an anti-Nazi demonstration. Two years later, the day was marked as International Students’ Day in London. Since that day, students all over the world have been undertaking actions on 17 November to speak out for accessible and free higher education. To name but a few, there is a rally for Free Education in Vienna (Austria) and a rally for Accessible Education at the University of Sofia (Bulgaria).