Education, education, education

It’s a case of education, education, education today.No doubt thousands of students across England and Wales will be dreading the start of the new academic year next week. However, pity the situation of 400 Palestinians who don’t even have the choice.All 400 are set to lose their university places and scholarships unless the Israeli authorities allow them to leave the Gaza Strip before the new academic year. Nearly 40 of them have places in Europe and North America, while hundreds of others are due to travel to universities in the Middle East and elsewhere.It’s a clear violation of their right to education.We’ve got an urgent action out about their case and if you want to voice your concern as well you can do so by following the link here.Closer to home their was a welcome development yesterday with the news that the slave trade is to be added to the school curriculum in England and Wales. Conveniently Amnesty has plenty of teaching resources on the subject (aren’t we great), which you can download here.Unsurprisingly, there was the usual difference of opinion over whether that was a good thing or not. The Guardian was full of praise and I’ll leave you to judge what you think the Daily Mail made of it…Finally, on Monday we’re playing host to the National Union of Students and a whole raft of student media outlets. The day will include a session with former student leaders from Burma and Tiananmen Square. Hopefully it will be eye opening and encourage the next generation of students to get involved in human rights.