STUDENT activists have called on a university to meet their demands to support hybrid learning as a sit-in at a lecture hall has entered its second day.
Protesters at the University of Sussex stormed and occupied part of the Jubilee building on campus, blockading doors with chairs, plants and other objects.
The group of students from the Sussex Renters' Union have said they are "showing solidarity" with striking university staff, as well as calling for proper support for hybrid working.
The students' demands call on the university to continue providing online learning. They want that live-streamed lectures with captions to continue, and for lecture recordings to be uploaded within a strict time frame.
- READ MORE: Student activists occupy lecture theatre in 'solidarity' with striking uni staff
In a post on social media, the student activists said they were in "high spirits", but have faced "increased aggression from security".
They also claimed that the university's director for the student experience Jayne Aldridge has told them on several occasions that no fire drills are planned for the building and that they would need to leave in the event of the fire alarm sounding.
They said: "We aren't stupid, it seems like there may be a fire drill incoming in Jubilee.
"There is no reason for this other than to flush us out of the sit-in, with a callous disregard for students with sensory issues.
"Considering one of our core demands is to restore hybrid learning and increase accessibility for students, to resort to a fire drill would be harmful to the well-being they claim to defend."
The group said they do not plan to leave the building should the fire alarm sound.
Pictures posted overnight from the occupied lecture hall show protesters creating a jigsaw and watching films.
A University of Sussex spokesman said: "A small number of people have unlawfully entered and locked themselves inside one of the lecture theatres on our campus.
"We have temporarily moved online any lectures due to take place there, while we consider what further action to take."
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