BLACKBOARD RUMBLE

A school in Leeds has been returned to the community recently after over five years standing empty, neglected by Leeds County Council. Local residents formed a collective to squat the building last Monday (9th) and have been using the space to hold a range of community-led activities, with huge support from the local area.
The school was initially shut down in 2004 during a spate of closures and educational budget cuts by Leeds County Council. Their next step was to turn down bids for the space from community groups in favour of plans put forward by a large conglomerate development company to turn the site into flats for elderly people. This company pulled out of the deal in 2008 and since then the building has remained derelict.

Despite a £15,000 a year security budget paid by the council the school has been repeatedly targeted by vandals and the lead stripped from the roof (which the council is currently refusing to give back, ignoring the desperate need for repairs).

The Royal Park Community Consortium is putting together a business plan to present to the council, and is calling out for locals and interested parties alike to contact the local councillors in support of the project, as well as encouraging anyone to pop in for a visit or join in with one of the many community events being held. The group were served with eviction papers this week and are due in court on Monday 23rd, so get yerself down to the Leeds Magistrates Court by 10am to show your support.

* For more search ‘Save the Royal Park Primary School for community use!’ on Facebook

ALSO, with educational occupations taking place in the UK, mass strikes and occupations of university buildings are also happening in the rest of Europe. Student protests have been kicking off in support of the continent-wide week of action (9th - 18th November) dubbed ‘Education Is Not For Sale’, covering issues like the commercialisation of education; the shift in a focus from a public-serving education system to a privately-owned employee factory, churning out the perfect white-collar worker; and the continuing homogenisation of degree programmes due to 1999’s Bologna agreement.

In Germany 85,000 students took to the streets in over 50 cities and 16 university lecture halls were stormed and occupied all over the country, Switzerland saw three universities being temporarily squatted, all of this following similar large scale action in Austria at the beginning of this month.

* To find out more about the Education Is Not For Sale movement see www.emancipating-education-for-all.org