Today, it's a fact that many students have to work during their time at university or college, writes Gemma Tumelty. By heaping on the debt, the government has left students in the financial position where a part-time job is a necessity for all but a few.
The sectors in which students work are generally low-paid, with poor working conditions and very few guaranteed rights. Long nights spent working in bars and 12-hour days spent in call centres undoubtedly have a negative impact on study.
It's clear that all too often students are being used by employers ready to exploit their need for cash. That's why this year the National Union of Students (NUS) is launching a new initiative to protect students at work through increased engagement with the trade union movement.
Trade union membership among young people is running at seriously low levels and we want to change that. We want to ensure students' rights are protected at work and over the next year we will be working closely with the trade union movement to make sure students are aware of the benefits union membership can bring.
And that's not all we'll be doing with the unions. Time and time again I hear the same tired old accusation: students don't care any more. Students are apathetic and apolitical. They care more about the cost of a pint than they do about social justice.
As the president of NUS I know that this claim is quite simply untrue. This year we have already witnessed mass action from students up and down the country on local and national issues. The political passion is clearly still there.
What is sometimes true however, is that students need a little help in harnessing that passion. That is why we are launching an NUS activists academy, where we will work with the TUC to develop new models of student activism, allowing students to campaign effectively on the causes close to their hearts.
I challenge those who say students are apolitical. Student activism is not dead, but with our help, it is about to enter a new and exciting phase. The student movement has a role to play in the citizenship agenda and by working with the trade union movement we can help fulfill our duty to build active political citizens, ready to fight for the priorities of the future.
