April 21, 2006 Student reaction against turning the universities into trading and market places are turning into actions in protests everywhere. The already existing conditions of poverty combined with increasing fees pushed the university students to organize for their futures. In a campaign spreading like a wildfire called MP3, referring to the 3 demands against […]
April 21, 2006
Student reaction against turning the universities into trading and market places are turning into actions in protests everywhere.
The already existing conditions of poverty combined with increasing fees pushed the university students to organize for their futures.
In a campaign spreading like a wildfire called MP3, referring to the 3 demands against the Marketization of universities and Patronage of the students, the students organized under the units called Student Collectives.
The MP3 campaign is being organized in 17 Cities across 24 university campuses.
The Black Sea Technical University Student Collective organized an MP3 Festival
The students in this Northern Anatolia city Trabzon organized the MP3 (3 demands against the Marketization and Patronage) festival. More than 250 students participated in the festivities where education fees and investigation against the 16 students who were involved in action against the raises in fees were discussed.
The event included poetry reading and music provided by the GAM Poetry and Music Group. The signatures collected within the MP3 campaign was sent to the parliament on April 19th.
Mersin University Students send MP3 protest Signatures to the Parliament: Our University is not a Trading House
The signatures collected against the privatization and marketization of higher education and patronage against the students in Mersin, a southern city in Turkey was sent in a collective action to the House. Students chanted, “We are Students, not Customers”, “Revolt against Profit Driven Education, Revolt Against Transportation Fees, Revolt Against Rents, Revolt Against High Rate of Living Expenses!”, “Free, Scientific, Quality Education”
In the press release read at Downtown Mersin, the students declared that as students organized under the Student Collective they rejected the dominance of market in education. They emphasized their demands of MP3, which is the reflection of 3 demands against the Marketization of education and Patronage of the students.
The students gave examples of how the higher education has been changed to obey market rules in their campus: “The marketization and patronage of the students is advancing rapidly in the university of Mersin. Every year the fees are raised and forced extra expenditures show the trend. Now, the first place a student visits in the campus is the bank branch. The grants for meals given to students in need just two years have now dwindled to nearly nothing, and everything including transcripts and student documents are now all given only if you pay for them…”
Kocaeli Students signed the street: No to Marketization of Education, No to Patronage!”
The students of Kocaeli University gathered letters of protest to be sent out to every university and staged a protest to sign their demands of MP3 on the street with their bodies: “We are Not Customers, We are Students” 
In the rally and protest, the students chanted, “Merchants out! The Schools belong to us!”, “Our Universities are Not For Sale, Our Campuses are Not For Sale, Our cafeterias are Not For Sale!” and “Free Education!”
The student protest which became a rally in front of the post office the signatures were being mailed from was supported by many youth organizations and also by many health care and education labor unions.
University of Eskişehir students hold a pasta festival, then sent their MP3 protest signatures to the Assembly.
The student Collective of Eskişehir University organized a pasta day to protest the marketization of education in which more than 100 students participated.
After the rally the students marched within the campus to collectively send their protest MP3 signatures to the Assembly. The marchers were supported by other students and staff. The 2500 signatures were sent from the post office.
The people of Eskişehir showed interest and support to the marching studens along the way. After the rally at the post office, the students marched back to end the protest event. The student protest took the headlines of the 4 major local daily papers and was reported extensively.
Source: Devrimci Gençlik (Revolutionary Youth)
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