The Global University Network for Innovation reports that representatives from student organisations across the world met at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris in January this year.  Together they issued a Global Student Statement.

The statement is addressed to the 2009 World Conference on Higher Education to be held from 5 to 8 July 2009 at UNESCO. The students call for a “deep investment in the higher
education of students globally” by governments across the world to make higher education “a fundamental right for all.”  To achieve this, they make the following requests:

We call upon UNESCO to start a global research study into national studying costs, while taking into consideration both tuition fees and living costs, as well as
the support systems in place.

We urge governments to implement far more flexible visa procedures for students …

We call upon governments to stop using trans-national education programmes as a way of gaining access to educational markets in developing countries …

We demand … the right to freely speak out and criticise teachers, rectors, ministers or other actors in higher education, without fear of retribution … We propose that a worldwide ombudsperson office for students is established under the umbrella of UNESCO …

Study programme coordinators must consult students in the development of the programmes and ensure that systematic ways allowing students to give feedback on how to improve their studies exist.

It’s great to hear student voices at this level!  What do you think of these ideas?  Are they realistic, achievable, necessary?  How might they be implemented at an international level?

Filed under: Conferences and Workshops, Internationalisation, Students by Agnes Bosanquet