Abdelkader Karbache and Mylou Miché were still settling into their roles as chairpersons of LSVb and ISO when the current cabinet was sworn in. The four coalition parties introduced a ‘slow-progress penalty’ and announced major cuts in education and research. Bizarre plans, Karbache and Miché agree.

The coalition agreement turned their board year upside down. “It’s not like we didn’t see it coming”, says Karbache. “I wanted to be on the LSVb board because I was really concerned about education, but I have to admit that things were even more concerning than I expected.”

Changing tack

ISO realised it had to change tack. As an organisation rooted in student participation, its members normally prefer to fight for change in meeting rooms, but now they had to take to the streets. “Protesting is not something ISO normally does”, Miché explains. “But we had no choice.”

The pressure is rising across the board, Karbache says: “The right to demonstrate, education, livelihood security... I’m happy that we’re able to organise demonstrations that attract thousands of people, and that we can launch petitions that are signed by a hundred thousand people. There’s so much support from students and teachers. That’s what I want to show young people: that you can fight against injustice. We also had a secret goal: to organise a demonstration with a turnout of over 20 thousand people, breaking the existing record. And we actually pulled it off.”

But in between demonstrations, they still talk to the Minister of Education. “Fortunately, we do get invited”, Miché says. “He can’t ignore us”, Karbache adds. “If he doesn’t talk to us, he’ll hear what we have to say from the media.”

Keeping the conversation going

Doesn’t it feel strange to go from speaking at an anti-austerity protest on Malieveld to walking into a conference room for a meeting with the Minister? “Austerity has been an important topic over the past six months”, says Miché. “But we’ve also been focusing on other areas where we had to get things done for students. It’s important to keep the conversation going.”

Take internship pay, for example. “The Minister and ISO may not always see eye to eye, but this is an issue we do need to talk about. Which the Minister knows, of course. Or take the problems students face when they apply for a supplementary grant after cutting contact with their parents. We’re in a position where we can discuss these things with the Minister, so we shouldn’t let that opportunity go to waste.”

“We often talk about student wellbeing and social safety at those meetings – areas where we still have a long way to go. Sometimes we get calls from students who feel like there’s no light at the end of the tunnel anymore. We’ve even had to send condolence cards to associations when one of their members had taken their own life. These issues are so important that we have to keep engaging with the Minister, despite our fundamental differences. You can take a principled stance and go: we’re not talking to this cabinet. But it feels like we have a moral obligation to keep the lines of communication open.” (Are you struggling with suicidal thoughts? Help is available. Visit the 113 website or call 0800 0113.)

New board members

Now both organisations are looking for new board members to take up the mantle. It’s a great experience, say Karbache and Miché. New members go through a long onboarding process and lots of training before they start working on their own – a real learning journey, in all sorts of ways. You can get things done, but you’re also suddenly managing a team of people and doing their performance reviews.

“I didn’t really consider that beforehand”, Miché admits. “At the same time”, Karbache adds, “my employees actually take care of me more than I take care of them. They’re students too, of course, and we’ve become close friends. Sometimes they feel less like employees and more like other board members.” It’s the same at ISO, says Miché: “We call it the ISO family.”

Although the repeal of the slow-progress penalty is probably their board’s biggest achievement, Karbache likes to give credit to others: “For months, students, teachers and staff were signing petitions, going to demonstrations and talking to politicians. We were mostly just the medium channelling their efforts.”

New goals

What’s the next dragon they want to slay? First of all, LSVb and ISO will continue to oppose the major cuts announced by the cabinet. One of the issues Miché wants to keep focusing on is internship pay, which she believes should be made mandatory. And student wellbeing, of course.

Karbache still hopes to stop the remaining cuts before they pass the Senate. He also wants to improve the financial situation of students, which he says is getting worse all the time. The compensation that was promised to those who missed out on the basic student grant is nowhere near sufficient, he argues. “The basic grant should be high enough to live on for all students. But we also want rent allowance for those who don’t live in a self-contained apartment, for example. Housing is a major issue for students.”

If the current government collapses, there will be new elections. It would then be up to the student unions to make education a key campaign issue, says Karbache. “But we always talk to politicians about students’ interests, whether there’s an election or not.”

Deadlines

When Karbache and Miché step down, their successors will have to carry on the fight. If you’re interested in doing a board year at LSVb, there’s not much time left to apply: the deadline closes on 22 January. ISO is accepting applications until 31 January.