Tuition Fees Demo- Beyond the broken windows?

* Any views expressed in this article are those of the author and not of Thomson Reuters Foundation.

I write this in the aftermath of what I hope will be remembered as a historic and memorable day. When the ‘cyber' generation, the ‘apathetic' ones rekindled the ancient spirit of youth activism. Yes, logging out of Facebook, switching off our X Box 360's, and even saving Tweeting until a later hour- we headed to London in our tens of thousands. Indeed it was protest in it's purest form- marching the streets, emitting a collective roar in opposition to an infringement on our fundamental human rights. That of access to education. and for many, in anger to an abhorrant failure in democracy itself. The facts on the government proposals for higher education funding: The coalition has proposed to raise the cap on fees to £9000, 3 times its current rate. Though these will not have to be repayed until graduates earn £21 000 in their salary, interest rates on the loans are also to be raised. The government is also proposing up to 80% cuts to University funding, with the arts subjects set to be the hardest hit. So what was it that motivated me to get up at 6am and join the 5 hour coach down from Leeds to be present at the day? The answer is fundamentally routed in the deep sense of injustice that has captured me, since the government accepted the Browne Reviews findings about a month ago. It is also due to my feeling that no amount of letters and emails to MP's and internet petitions, can come close to giving you the sensation of undergoing  an act of ‘protest' more than taking to the streets in a collective march.  A wonderful experience I had as well. The crowd were colourfully dressed and high spirited- brandishing placards, banners and signs, vocal in a repeated chorus of the albeit simple chant- 'No if's, No but's, No Education Cuts'. As the volume rose many notches as we marched past the Houses of Parliament this really was activism at it's finest. Making good of a staple of our democracy- the right to peaceful protest.        This is not to give a wrong impression about my thoughts of UK democracy, which I feel has been fundamentally undermined by these very proposals, this regarding broken promises by politicians. At Oxfam I campaign to enable access to education for the poorest people in the world arguing that a lack of finances should not result in poor people being denied schooling. Similarly in the UK I can only envisage a result of higher fees acting as a deterrent for the poorest young people applying to University. It is widely anticipated there will soon be a massive difference in what institutions charge students to attend. I can only envisage this resulting in University applications being decided by economic means as oppose to academic capability; thus creating a two tier system of Universities for the rich, and others for the poor. There was a lot hapenning behind the siege of Milibank Tower at the fees demonstration. Let us hope the mobilisation of 52 000 is remembered above the actions of a couple of hundred. More from the Oxfam Press Office at http://www.oxfam.org.uk/news