just thinking about how all summer UCU & academics were saying we shouldn& #39;t bring 1mil students to campus & we were told we weren& #39;t putting student mental health first & were doom-mongering & were rinsing students for fees for worthless online teaching & should all lose our jobs

& most academics said yeah, we actually fought against fees & the financial exploitation of students is really Tory government policy & we can do our jobs safely & well online & student halls will obviously become a new epicentre & maybe students could study locally this year

there is SO MUCH expertise & compassion amongst academics & looking at all the local lockdowns & outbreaks I am just SO MAD that we& #39;re cast into this hated, Cassandra role where it& #39;s basically unfashionable to listen to us or our union on anything - C19, education, mental health

most academics I know want to get rid of absurd league tables based on nothing more than wealth inequalities, inherited privilege & elitism, & create a system where anyone can access *free* education at any age in a well-funded uni close to them w/ part time & online options

obviously it would be completely unthinkable to listen to academics when it& #39;s easier to frame us as lazy villains in a melodrama created by Tory education policy.