The student protests (Report, 10 December) display a distasteful streak of self-indulgence. There is no co-ordinated campaign against the proposed rise in fees, and little understanding of the government’s proposals so that they are able to take ministers to task in a robust, rigorous and considered manner. Rather, the protests seem to be an opportunity to disrupt the very institutions they claim to be protecting, and to take to the streets to disrupt the lives of those who are assumed to pay for their education.

More irritatingly, the protesters seem to have little sense of balance, perspective or awareness of their own privileges. The idiotic “Bring down the government” placards say it all. Education is a privilege, not an automatic right, and we are fortunate to live in a democracy where, despite its many failings, education in modern Britain has come to be considered a right, provided at a world-class level and, for the large part, free. It is something we must value and protect.

This issue has sharply brought into focus attitudes towards education itself. The misguided education maintenance allowance was a key illustration of how education is undervalued by citizens; to be “incentivised” – pupils and students paid – by the taxpayer to attend school or college seems quite wrong when the incentive of (free) education should be enough. In a week where we hear of Liu Xiaobo (who also was key to the student movement in Tianamen Square) and Ai Weiwei (a real artist with a cause) being respectively imprisoned and prevented from travelling, perhaps it is time for our students to show some humility and balance in their understanding of oppression and revolution.

Andrew Green

South Croydon, Surrey

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