Bristol SU calls for all ‘non-essential’ teaching to move online following lockdown announcement

By Epigram News Team

Bristol University’s Students’ Union has called for the University to ‘show leadership’ and move all non-essential in-person teaching online for the rest of TB1.

The demand follows Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s announcement on Saturday over a national lockdown that will last from this Thursday, 5 November, to 2 December.

In a statement, the Bristol SU Officer Team, said ‘it seems wrong on both an educational and public health level to continue on-campus teaching during a lockdown.’

The statement from SU Officers also added ‘that TB1 has not turned out the way it was sold to students over summer,’ and they will therefore be lobbying for a tuition fee reduction against both the University of Bristol and on a national level.

In addition to these demands, Bristol SU have requested that the University also:

• Lobby the Government through Universities UK (UUK) to allow students who have completed 2 weeks of isolation to return home before Christmas, saying ‘students should not be kept on campuses if they can do their learning online and wish to do so.’
• Provide no-penalty contract releases for students who choose to move home and leave their University accommodation.
• Give students who choose to stay in halls a 30% rent reduction for the first term.
• Continue to support students in halls with free food boxes, regular mental health check-ins, and other essentials.
• Keep libraries and study spaces open for students who remain in Bristol, with a priority for those ‘who may otherwise struggle to access their studies online.’
• Publicise the financial hardship funds students can apply to due to the financial difficulties of entering another lockdown.

Bristol SU say their demands have been ‘informed by weeks of consultation with students and staff in which it became increasingly clear that in some areas, in-person teaching has not met the high expectations set by seminars under normal circumstances.’

Universities, along with schools and colleges, will so far continue to remain open during the four-week lockdown, the Prime Minister announced on Saturday.

Featured Image: Epigram / Patrick Sullivan

What do you make of their demands following the announcement over a national lockdown? The Bristol SU Officer team can be contacted via bristolsu@bristol.ac.uk.