A petition has been started to compensate students for the cost of the lecturer strikes at UoM

It has recently been announced that up to two weeks of striking could take place between the 22nd of February and 16th of March.

The strikes are in response to the £10,000 cut to lecturers' pension schemes, and while many students understand and support the rights of their lecturers and tutors to strike, it seems that they are not happy with the fact that they will miss out on precious education time.

Hana Jafar and Edda Vallen, two student representatives of the School of Arts, Languages, and Culture have put forth a petition stating their grievances regarding the "gross misconduct of University management forcing [students] to miss three whole weeks of teaching, which is absolutely unacceptable."

The students' outrage not only stems from missing out on valuable education time, but also the fact that they pay £9,000 in tuition fees to attend university and be entitled to quality teaching.

It is estimated that approximately £1,200 in valuable contact learning time. For international students, who pay roughly £17,000, this figure is naturally higher at a loss of £2,000. The petition demands that the University negotiate with the UCU (University and College Union) or pay students a full refund for the contact time missed.

Another student, Melis Royer, has also set up a petition demanding compensation for students. Upon starting the petition Royer says: "Firstly let it be known that I set up this petition in full support of the strike, I completely sympathise with the motif behind it. However I don't feel it is fair that students should be financially compromised for something beyond our control. We pay to receive a service and just like in any other circumstance, when that service falls shy of our expectations, the consumer is well within their right to demand compensation."

So what do you think regarding these strikes? Do students deserve compensation? Hopefully, the issue can be resolved soon and students and lecturers alike can return to their normal activities with demands satisfied.

Sign Hana and Edda's petition here.

Sign Melis's petition here.