Students ‘Make a fuss about their bus!’
09/12/2011
Students help launch the campaign
On Monday 5 December, members of Central Sussex College Students' Union, based at the Haywards Heath campus, launched a petition to lower bus fares for students aged 13-18 in the local area. The petition is part of a wider scheme called 'On the Bus', which is run by the National Union of Students (NUS). The NUS will be embarking upon a tour of UK Further Education institutions whose students face significant cuts to financial support for travel costs, and to service provision, which could mean that travelling to and from College by bus becomes increasingly difficult.
'Make a fuss about your bus' has been launched at the College in support of this national campaign to protect the interests of students whose ability to travel is in jeopardy. Students feel strongly that the massive hike in bus fares (some as much as £200 per year), combined with a decrease in financial support for students represents a disservice by local councils. Many students at the College currently rely on bus services to get to and from the campus in Harlands Road, and they argue that local bus services are expensive, unreliable and infrequent. Students also fear that they are already financially over-burdened, with the increase in university tuition fees and the scrapping of the Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA).
College student Jack Gibbs, 17, is Secretary of the Student Executive at the campus, and is also a Students' Union representative. He says: "We are currently facing the imminent burden of increased tuition fees, whilst the EMA scheme, which was introduced primarily so that students had enough money for transport, was unjustly scrapped by the government last summer. We feel that education is a right - it is not something we should be paying in excess of £750 a year to gain access to."
He continues: "This is a particularly stressful and tiring time for students, who are facing A Level exams in January, so the last thing we need is an expensive bus service that often gets to College late. Some have resorted to using cars to travel to and from College, but this causes added traffic in Haywards Heath town centre, which is already congested, and overcrowding in the limited College car-parking facilities. I'd like to thank all the students who have already signed the petition."
The group encouraged fellow students to sign the petition whilst running an information stand in main reception area, and have already collected over 500 signatures from students and staff at the College alone. It is also now online, and those wishing to lend their support can sign virtually.
