My name is Laiba and I am a 3rd year Economics with Law student passionate about making a difference and helping people achieve their goals. It is not every day in the history of this university that a young woman of my background gathers courage to work for change, especially when surrounded by other competing priorities. I say this to emphasise the point that international students, especially one with my background, know the importance of education since they have journeyed far for it. I want to use my position to ensure that the next person who comes to university feeling as I felt gets given the opportunity to make the most out of their academic chapter. I am standing for VP Education Officer as I strongly believe in the transformative power of education and, whilst there are many things the University of Plymouth gets right, there are still things that could be improved. An education officer should show a real interest in all areas of education. I believe there are some very important and necessary changes the university has the power to implement to ensure its students are fully supported in their learning. If elected I will:
- Lobby with the university to increase the number of e-books they provide and extending the stock of key texts in the library or will endeavour to get more discounts for textbooks which is a necessity for many discipline.
- Lobby with the university to make the price of printing less whilst, ensuring the sustainability of the environment and education is a continued priority.
- Lobby with the university for more dedicated teaching staff to ensure all students receive the necessary number of contact teaching hours in order to maximise their learning experience as there should be some space needed to conduct additional contact hours.