Trainee teachers joined mass cuts protests in London
TRAINEE teachers angry at having their £9,000 bursaries removed joined 250,000 protesters in a national demonstration against Government cuts.
Eleven Keele University students had been told they would receive the bursaries and then a further £2,000 after signing up for a two-year PGCE course in computers last September.
But the Government has abolished the bursaries for people wanting to teach information technology (ICT).
Five of the students joined Saturday's TUC March for the Alternative to protest against the cut.
Tracey Summer signed up for the course because her three children are grown up, she had always wanted to be a teacher and the bursary would give her a vital income.
The 45-year-old, of Hartshill, said: "The bursary made teaching an achievable prospect. We were given £5,400 for this first year and we thought we were getting £9,000.
"I was going to be starting a career debt-free and now I need a loan that will take 10 years to pay off."
Mother-of-one Asma Hussain, aged 38, of Etruria, said: "We have been left in the lurch.
"Now I have to take out a student loan and I'm going to be even more in debt.
"You would think they would cut the bursary slowly but they have taken it away completely."
Amy O'Brien, aged 25, who lives at Keele, gave up her job as a civil servant to do the course.
She should have started her PGCE last September and would have received the bursary. But health problems meant she had to delay the course by a year.
She said: "Without the health problems, I would have got the £9,000. It's just made life a bit harder and I won't be able to afford to move out of halls."
Charlotte Lester, aged 22, of Keele, and Tabbassum Bashir, aged 26, were also at Saturday's march.
Tabassum, who also lives on campus, had been working as a financial adviser for a debt management company before starting the course. He said: "I wanted to do something to educate people for the future. I feel really let down."
Tutor Bruce Nightingale, who runs the PGCE ICT course, said two students living in Birmingham had already dropped out because of the removal of the bursary.
He said: "There is surely a moral obligation to continue the bursaries for people who have already started what is effectively a two-year course. "People have made life-changing decisions to study for teacher training."
The Government cuts mean £9,000 bursaries are only available for trainee teachers studying physics, chemistry, engineering and maths.
Bursaries of £6,000 are offered for biology, general science and modern foreign languages.
Education secretary Michael Gove, left, said: "I have carefully considered the value for money of offering bursaries to support teacher training. I believe it is right – in this time of fiscal restraint – to focus investment where it is needed." Bonus payments of £2,000 to first-year teachers have been scrapped across the board.
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15 Comments
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by Johntoe, Stokie up North
Wednesday, March 30 2011, 2:57PM
“AND....
Having once again read through every post on this topic, I have yet to see where ANYONE has, to quote our 'friend' ...D STOKES'
"try and condone these thugs"
in fact it's the complete opposite,
come on STOKSEY me old mucker, don't just post lies and run away, at least back up your outburst?
Here is MY 'leftie' opinion on that tiny minority who caused trouble,
and a few hundred from 250-500 THOUSAND, IS a tiny minority, did you do maths at your school STOKESY?
They are JUST as bad as (if not WORSE than) the EDL/BNP thugs, they do us who oppose this government and the other, only slightly more right wing organisations, NO good at all, they are counter productive, and only help the enemy,
the actions of this handful of thugs (unlike every EDL march where the majority are hoodie wearing thugs) almost destroyed the message of up to half a million peaceful protesters,
as I said..........
get back to me when the EDL/BNP can get half a million peaceful protesters on the street, OR, get half a million supporters on the street, OR just hold ONE peaceful protest,
THEN you just MIGHT have a point,”
by Johntoe, Stokie up north
Wednesday, March 30 2011, 2:53PM
“AND....
Having once again read through every post on this topic, I have yet to see where ANYONE has, to quote our 'friend' ...D STOKES'
"try and condone these thugs"
in fact it's the complete opposite,
come on STOKSEY me old mucker, don't just post lies and run away, at least back up your outburst?
Here is MY 'leftie' opinion on that tiny minority who caused trouble,
and a few hundred from 250-500 THOUSAND, IS a tiny minority, did you do maths at your school STOKESY?
They are JUST as bad as (if not WORSE than) the EDL/BNP thugs, they do us who oppose this government and the other, only slightly more right wing organisations, NO good at all, they are counter productive, and only help the enemy,
the actions of this handful of thugs (unlike every EDL march where the majority are hoodie wearing thugs) almost destroyed the message of up to half a million peaceful protesters,
get back to me when the EDL/BNP can get half a million peaceful protesters on the street, OR, get half a million supporters on the street, OR just hold ONE peaceful protest,
THEN you just MIGHT have a point,”
by Johntoe, Stokie up north
Tuesday, March 29 2011, 10:45PM
“HAHA STOKES
you really are losing the plot old son,
half a million people attend a PEACEFUL demonstration and receive praise from the chief constable,
a few hundred thugs who where never part of the official march anyway......(see that? I called them THUGS, no double standards here),
Cause some trouble, and you imply that THEY, and not the half a million peaceful protesters represent the Left,????
Does the expression "to shoot ones self in the foot" mean anything to you at all?
but thanks for the excellent example of EDL/BNP 'logic'
Tell you what me old son, I am nothing if not generous me,
the NEXT time a few thousand EDL march,... and less than 10 of them, (who were never part of the 'official' demo) cause trouble, I will be the FIRST on here saying that the vast majority of EDL/BNP are well behaved,
But you and I know that will NEVER happen,
But thanks for the laugh anyway.”
by Tonyjohnt, Hanley
Tuesday, March 29 2011, 8:57PM
“D STOKES - feel better after that rant?
Call them hypocrites - check.
Blame Labour - check.
Compare to the virtuous EDL - check.
Implicate the UAF - check.
There were families with children, teachers, nurses, fire-fighters and police officers amongst the hundreds of thousands on the actual TUC march. Are they mindless UAF thugs?
What of the issues? Were over a quarter of a million people wrong to put their feet on the street to register their opposition to the destruction of our society?
Buy a new fiddle, your tired old tune is getting boring comrade.”
by D STOKES, STOKE
Tuesday, March 29 2011, 4:00PM
“The usual UAF supporters seek to try and condone the violence, but scream the loudest when the EDL marched for what they believed, "hypocrites".
Hundreds of policemen hurt, thousands in damage.
Petrol bombs,light bulbs filled with amonia, sticks, all the weapons of the Labour, union backed UAF.
Now I would have paid to see these Labour, UAF, commie left winger, union organised thugs get what they deserve.”
by Dullard, Sandbach-under-Educated
Monday, March 28 2011, 8:28PM
“Of you could remove yourself from your mirror, you may be able to show us your "salient points"?!
Asy French teacher used to say "alors allez vous faire foutre".
Have a fantabuloso evening!”
by stokiemart, Stoke
Monday, March 28 2011, 7:20PM
“Surely "How to Patronise One Particular Political Dullard Who Fails To Engage With The Salient Points That Others Make In One Insightful Post" would be a far more accurate title.
Shine on ;-)”
by Andy, Sandbach
Monday, March 28 2011, 6:43PM
“I thank StokieMart for correcting me yet again. Where would we be without him? In relation to the word 'we', when used in this context then it is grammatically correct.
As for fifty two percent, hardly a massive endorsement is it? Even a fence sitter like you must see this?
PS, I look forward to your next novel "How To Patronise In One Boring Post".”
by Johntoe, Stokie up north
Monday, March 28 2011, 6:03PM
“Between 250 and 500 thousand people exercised their right to peaceful protest in London on Saturday,
and you can bet that for every person who made their way to London to protest, there are many many more who support their protest but for whatever reason were not on the march,
and a comparative (no more than 3 or 4 hundred) handful of yobs and thugs, who had no intention of behaving and took no part in the official demonstration, are now being used by some Tory/coalition supporters as representative of the hundreds of thousands who marched in a law abiding manner,
take a look at some of the news videos, in some of them there are 4 or 5 yobs smashing windows, surrounded by what looks like, hundreds of press photographers and TV news cameramen,
and THIS is what the media is talking about,
Boris the buffoon Johnson, today has said that the Labour opposition, PLANNED to get these idiots to riot,
utterly disgusting comments from someone who should know better,
STILL, it shows that the demonstration of the strength of feeling in the country against this government has their supporters 'rattled' if all they can do is try to use deflection tactics by trying to imply that those yobs and their behaviour in ANY WAY reflects on the supporters of the protest,
and the cuts and the attacks on the welfare system and the NHS haven't even started yet,
IF you think that demonstration was 'something' let me just say
"you aint seen nothing yet"”
by Tonyjohnt, Hanley
Monday, March 28 2011, 4:26PM
“Andy, the cuts haven't begun to hurt yet. Let's see what the opinion polls are saying this time next year.
Where are the the mass protests in favour of the cuts? No-one voted for this, as will become apparent on May 5th.
What angers me most is the relish with which the Tories are conducting this slash & burn policy, going much further than Thatcher (spit) would have dared.”