British students march again against fee rise

British students march again against fee rise

2010-11-25 01:03:48 GMT+7 (ICT)

LONDON (BNO NEWS) -- A large number of students on Wednesday gathered in several locations in London to protest against government plans to increase university tuition fees and cut university funding in England.

Thousands of students protested at London's Trafalgar Square as rallies were planned outside the Liberal Democrat headquarters and later in Downing Street but police decided to contain protesters on Whitehall to avoid violent incidents as the ones erupted earlier in the month.

Protests have been mostly peaceful, but in central London a crowd vandalized a police van, broke its windows, and spray-painted it. Students throughout England joined the protests, including in Nottingham, Leeds, Bristol, Sheffield, Warwick and Manchester.

The plan of rising tuition fees starting in 2012 would have a lower cap at £6,000 ($9,617), with universities able to charge up to £9,000 ($14,426), which is three times the current cap. In addition, university funding would be cut by 40 percent, eliminating teaching grants as well, with the exception for math and science.

The costs of teaching other courses would be funded by tuition fees.

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