Cal Walsh Replies To LTE Regarding the Radical Union and Education as ‘Service’

I want to thank the student who wrote this letter regarding their disappointment in the capitalistic ideals presented by the VP for Education candidates. I, of course, cannot and will not speak for my fellow campaigners in this race regarding their answers to questions in the group interview. However, I feel that my answers may have been misinterpreted and I apologise profusely for this error on my part. I could have and should have been clearer on my position specifically related to my repeated statements regarding lecturer’s wages being paid by students’ fees. It is and has always been my position that education should be entirely free for all those who wish to engage with it. My statement that education is a service is founded upon the idea that students’ fees, as with any other exchange, are paid with the goal of receiving a worthwhile and proper education which is suited to their needs.

Further, I believe education should not be a service, it should be an inalienable right. It is with disappointment at the current approach taken by the university faculties that I classed it as such. In regards to the question about the space for students who receive the SUSI grant to have their voice heard, it is with a heavy heart that I apologise again for my position being unclear. If elected, it is with these students that I wish to engage further. It is those students who struggle to afford to pay their way through college that I wish to bring to the forefront of these issues. Only through co-operative engagement across the entire student body can we build a satisfactory university experience.

I want to thank the Silver Hand Journal for providing me with the opportunity to respond to these letters.