17th November: a very successful International Students’ Day!
The 17th of November was the International Students’ Day, a day marked with the struggle of students from all corners of the globe commemorating the many students that suffered violence and repression in the past because of their will to change education and society. Also this year, OBESSU together with the European Students’ Union (ESU), have launched a global call for action focusing on freedom of movement, freedom to live in dignity and freedom to study.
Background On the 17th of November 1939, nine students were executed without trial in Prague, Czech Republic, after the mass demonstrations following Jan Opletal’s death. Students were demanding freedom from the Nazi regime. The 17th of November 1973 is also the day of a mass strike in the University of Athens, Greece, during which some students were protesting via an independent radio station against the junta of the colonels. This action was repressed in the early hours of the 17th of November when an AMX30 tank crushed into the blocked polytechnic of Athens. Many of the students were severely injured during this repressive action. On the 17th of November 1989 protests once again took place in Prague. Students organised a peaceful demonstration to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the 1939 events, and to demand freedom from the Communist regime. This demonstration is one of the events identified as leading to the fall of the Communist regime in Czechoslovakia.
Considering that, in 2004 students from all over the world met in Mumbai, India, for the World Social Forum to call on the 17th of November as the International Students’ Day, to commemorate those students who have fought for their rights and freedom and to take action. The 17th of November is not yet an officially recognised day but it is indeed a very important bottom-up process for the student community all over the world.
International Students’ Day 2015 In 2015 the call for action has focused on freedom of movement, freedom to live in dignity and right to study for everyone regardless of their socio-economic, cultural, religious and sexual orientation, gender identity, and/or gender expression. In times of crisis, wars and economic depression we need to strengthen our solidarity and standing together, starting from our education, our school and university communities.
The call for action has been signed by 39 national and international student and civil society organisations and networks, covering the five continents. Many of these organisations have done actions all over the world, from social media actions, video and conferences, to picture petitions and demonstrations. Different cultures and different ways of commemorating and acting for change happened under the same framework, demanding swift changes in educational trends.
To give you some numbers about this successful campaign, the hashtag #InternationalStudentsDay reached more than 7 million users on Twitter, while the #17now reached around 1.330.000. The specific campaign hashtags #free2learn and #free2move reached over 1 million users each. Big numbers for a big international celebration!
A part from coordinating the campaign, the actions taken by OBESSU have been the participation to an international talk with the American organisation StudentVoice, as well as we have sent, together with ESU, emails with our demands to all Members of the European Parliament who are also in the CULT Committee (Culture and Education) and to several commissioners. Together with the university students, we demanded for a concrete follow-up action for the call, a response of inclusion, investment and integration. Already one member of the CULT committee signed the call for action.
For any question, please write at 17now@obessu.org.
Find more: Pictures from around the world here Global call for action (English) (Spanish) (French) Facebook event Press Release History of the International Students’ Day here
