Where we stand

Agreed at the Reclaim the Campus campus, May 2008

Education Not for Sale is a network of anti-capitalist students founded in September 2005. We exist to fight the rule of profit in our education system and in society as a whole, seeking to organize students alongside workers in struggle to replace capitalism with a society based on collective ownership, social provision for need, ecological sustainability and consistent democracy. We organize in the National Union of Students, in student unions, on campuses and in a variety of campaigns and movements.

We fight for:

* Free, top-quality, secular and democratic education and public services at every level, funded by taxing the rich and business.
* The abolition of all fees and a living, non-means-tested grant for every student, in FE and HE.
* Education not profit: business out of our schools, colleges and universities. Institutions run democratically by students, education workers and communities and aimed at developing free human beings, not teaching factories run by bureaucrats to make a profit and produce compliant workers.
* Mass direct action to win our demands, a campaigning NUS which mobilises such action - and a rank-and-file movement of student unions and the activist left prepared to take up the fight in opposition to NUS’s current right-wing leadership.
* Mass involvement and democratic control in NUS and student unions: for fighting unions, not bureaucratic service-providers.
* Student-worker unity; a fight to organize students who work; consistent support for workers’ struggles, on campus and beyond, in Britain and worldwide.
* Consistent support for women’s, black, LGBT and disabled liberation. Defend the NUS Liberation Campaigns. Free abortion on demand; free 24 hour nurseries and other social provision to liberate women from domestic drudgery. Militant opposition to the BNP, no platform for fascists. Fight racist lies, defend asylum-seekers, no borders.
* A political, internationalist student movement turned outwards towards the anti-war, climate change, global justice and anti-capitalist movements.
* Opposition to imperialism. The immediate and unconditional withdrawal of all troops from Iraq and Afghanistan. We oppose any war and sanctions on Iran. In the event of an attack on Iran, we will launch a direct action campaign at campuses across the UK, along with student Stop the War groups.
* Solidarity with student, workers’, women’s and other movements fighting exploitation and oppression everywhere. Solidarity with the Palestinians in their struggle for self-determination.
* Left unity. The organizations of the student left should unite - maximum unity in action, free and open debate about our differences and disagreements.

We call on all student activists and organizations who broadly accept this statement of aims to support ENS.

For the old ENS statement, agreed at a conference in September 2005, see here.