Students want clarity on the review strike
A few weeks ago, Interdisciplinary Social Science (ISW) students supported their striking lecturers through a "spam campaign". Meanwhile, the tide has turned. ‘We are the victims of a strike that is not about us.’
Some lecturers of Interdisciplinary Social Science (ISW) and other studies no longer check examinations because they believe that more attention should be paid to lecturers with temporary contracts. As a result, students experience a lot of ‘uncertainty about their binding study advice (BSA)’. This is what Ellen Rouers (19, student ISW) says. She and her fellow students now do not know whether they have passed their courses and are on the right track to achieving their BSA norm.
That is why Rouers and a number of fellow students have drafted a letter that they have sent to, among others, the study programme director of ISW, the study programme committee, lecturers and the student union Asva. In it, they write that they ‘are of the opinion that during the strike, many decisions were taken without our involvement. This has led to a feeling of uncertainty among many students and an enormous loss in motivation, stress and confidence.’
The tide has turned
Despite the consequences that the students experienced, in mid-April several ISW students drafted a letter to Agneta Fischer, Dean of the Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences. With this spam campaign, they were demonstrating their support to their striking lecturers. Now, a different voice is being clearly heard. Rouers and her fellow students now believe that both the UvA and the lecturers should have communicated better about the strike.
‘I understand very well why lecturers are on strike, so this letter is not necessarily aimed at the lecturers and their motivation for going on strike. It is more about the whole course of events that has led to a lack of clear communication with us as students about our exams. This strike is not about the students, but we are the ones who suffer from it,’ says Rouers.
