NUS Conference 2008 -> #1 Education

"Education is what remains after one has forgotten everything he learned in school." - Albert Einstein

The first motion Zone was Education.

Much was discussed and voted on. I have listed some of the successful policy that was passed:-

1) Access and Admissions - we voted to improve the HE admissions system so that is is fairer and more transparent to all applicants, particularly Part-Time, Post-Graduate and Mature students. This motion was co-submitted by us and has already been passed through Guild Council.

2) Education & Training at 18 - we voted to support the Governments' principle of raising the school leavning age to 18, however we mandated the NEC to ensure that this is met with appropriate support for learners and a National Minimum wage for apprenticeships. This motion is to be re-evaluated at Annual Conference 2009.

3) Nursing Students & Academic Failure - we voted to create an NUS Nursing Students' Campaign to address the widespread problems with Nursing.

4) Education Funding - the most important debate of the entire Conference! We passed policy to make the Governments' 2009 Education Funding Review the priority campaign for the NUS next year - fighting against lifting the cap and therefore the marketisation of education. Several ammendments were added to this motion, including mandating the NEC to campaign for home fees and bursaries for asylum seekers and oppose the tutition fee increases faced by International Students.

The next motion Zone was Strong & Active Unions...