Students stage own lectures during strikes

History undergraduates at the University of Warwick took it upon themselves to organise their own lectures in replacement of those cancelled by the recent union strikes.

Third year students used their old notes and lectured second year students, and second years lectured first years in an attempt to prevent students missing key exam material.

Academics and other university staff across the country staged walk-outs in protest of a one per cent pay increase offer. Staff members at Warwick have expressed disappointment due to the students’ decision to continue with lectures themselves.

Remy Osman, a second-year student at the University of Warwick who helped to organise the lectures, defended the reasons behind the students’ actions.

He told The Mancunion, “Those who organise the lecture and the others who come to them all feel that now we are on our sixth strike, they are having a negative impact on our education”.

Rather than ‘replacing’ the hard work of their lecturers, Osman said their actions were “an attempt to re-create the excellent lectures from which I have already made a lot of notes”.

Second-year History student Reece DeCastro, also at Warwick, told The Mancunion he did not have a firm opinion either way, but understands the reasons for organising the lectures.

“It is quite annoying to have lectures cancelled when we’ve been told that the topics might still come up in our exams,” he said. “That being said though, whether striking is the right way to go about it or not, I definitely think something needs to be done about our lecturers’ pay.”

Union strikes are planned to continue throughout February, including Monday 10^th.