LAST month, the students staying at the accommodation halls of the University of Manchester claimed a monumental victory after going on rent strike, winning back £12m worth of concessions — the most successful in British history.

Undeterred by the institution’s attempts to quite literally “fence them in,” and dismissing an “insulting” counteroffer of a rent reduction of just two weeks, they have managed to negotiate a 30 per cent reduction in rent.

In Scotland, similar actions have been taking place as young people are organising in protest at institutions that have repeatedly lied to them and put their safety at risk, all in the pursuit of greed.

A victory has already been won in Glasgow and in Aberdeen and Stirling students have been conducting training sessions over Zoom to those who wish to take part in similar demonstrations.

At the time of writing, students from more than 20 universities across the country, including Edinburgh, have rent strikes either imminently planned or are already underway — the most in 40 years. For some, it’s not just about the value for money either.

The main reason given for rent strikes at Cambridge, for example, is feelings of anger and solidarity at the redundancies of staff at some colleges which can more than afford to ensure staff are employed during a pandemic.

I hope every student in the country wins back their rent, and that students continue to feel empowered to stand up to the administration that simultaneously lures them back to campus and punishes and scapegoats them for doing so.

I hope this trend continues and that they push for rents to stay low even after the pandemic. This might be just one factor that goes some way to support working-class students and close the attainment gap between the most and least advantaged.

The existence of this gap comes as less of a surprise to those of us who have gone to both school and university in Scotland. A quarter of children in Edinburgh attend private schools (the overall figure for Scotland is 4 per cent compared to 13 per cent for London and 7 per cent for England).

So despite having no tuition fees to pay in Scotland, there remains a marked difference in outcomes when it comes to higher education, bigger in fact than in England. The up-front cost of university is the same (no need to pay anything at first) but maintenance loans for living costs are actually more generous in England.

Even though they are graduating with more debt, today more working-class kids in England are going to university than ever. Of course, I am not advocating tuition fees be brought back in Scotland but pointing out that deep inequalities remain in Scotland that need to be addressed.

And the conversation around rent strikes has to go beyond university halls of residences. 105 years after Mary Barbour led workers in Glasgow in the historic rent strikes, Living Rent are continuing to resist winter evictions, opening new branches across the country even in the midst of Covid-19 and launching their 20/21 manifesto.

Not content to stop only at the issue of renting, Living Rent members in Shawlands and Pollokshields are lending their support to wider community issues, particularly the Save Our Libraries campaign.

Through read-ins and collecting hundreds of petition signatures, they have protested at what they perceive is the council using coronavirus as an excuse for austerity and closing down public spaces in areas that need them the most.

Especially for children, they serve as free childcare, providing activities. For teenagers, libraries provide a study space when they might not have access to a quiet desk at home.

Curious, then, that during the period of reopening before tier 4 restrictions kicked in, Pollokshaws Library was reopened, while Langside, Govanhill and Pollokshields libraries are marking their 42nd straight week of closure.

I don’t think it’s an exaggeration to say that young people have borne the brunt of this pandemic. They have been forced into schools and universities, given unfair grades based on their socioeconomic status, many in precarious work have not been granted furlough, leaving them to sign on to universal credit. Those who have been furloughed still have to manage with a significant loss of earnings.

With the news of a vaccine’s first doses being administered today, only now does there seem to be an end in sight for a disease that has claimed the lives of over 60,000 people in Britain alone.

We cannot allow the lessons learned over the last nine months to be forgotten. It should be clear by now that the government and universities do not prioritise the wellbeing of young people and their families.

We need to carry these lessons over and continue to fight for decent living and learning standards, fair rents and a financial safety net for those in precarious work. Manchester has shown that when the political will is there, young people can mobilise towards victory. There is no reason why young Scots can’t do the same.

Enas Magzoub is a youth member on the Scottish executive of the Labour Party