University sit-ins spread throughout Switzerland

[FarCenter]

New era begins at Swiss universities Hundreds of students have occupied the biggest lecture hall at Bern University, preventing more than 1,000 other students from attending lectures.

The protests have taken place as part of Global Week of Action – motto "Education is not for sale" – which has seen students targeting the educational machine in several European cities. In Switzerland lecture halls have been occupied in Basel, Zurich and Bern.

"Around 1,200 students have been affected," said Christoph Pappa, Bern University's general secretary. "The university administration has noted the protests, but we still don't know what their concrete demands are."

Around 100 students spent Tuesday night in the auditorium – something that hadn't been planned but followed on spontaneously from events earlier in the day - International Students' Day - when some 300 students occupied the auditorium.

The main grievances are the implementation of the Bologna reforms, the commercialisation of education (in the form of industry sponsorship), student fees and the fact that university syllabuses are allegedly becoming more like those in schools.

<snip>http://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/front/University_sit_ins_spread_throughout_Switzerland.html?siteSect=108&sid=11508243&cKey=1258698965000&ty=st

[Nikki Stone1]

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