Vuyisile Msila says that the current education unrest presents a chance to fix a host of ills in broader society.
The current crisis in higher education institutions is one of the biggest in post-apartheid South Africa and the transformation debates that have arisen have never before included so many people.
Education continues to be seen as a possible leveller in society, but the myriad challenges have made people believe that it can be the main problem when equality of the citizens still eschews the society. When the #FeesMustFall campaign started last year many supported it because it talked to the essence of transformation.
We all realised that the beginning of change had started and on various platforms citizens agreed that this was long overdue.
Determined students started with the call to bring down the colossal effigy of old Cecil John Rhodes, who for decades sat in a pensive mood looking down on Cape Town. This spread throughout the country as people started asking more questions about various other statues including that of Oom Paul.
The call became one of more than just the removal of images and figurines. It heralded a need to bring forth a revolution in society through searching what various other symbols mean for the people. However, since last year there have been so many twists in the quest for higher education transformation.
We have witnessed both the worthy and the injurious.
Our chequered past is reflected by many of the struggles that the students are waging against the establishment. The most unfortunate has been the vandalism and destruction of property in various institutions. The students have the support of society and they are just marring their struggle when they destroy the properties they will need when the dust has settled. The struggles that are instigated have become so relevant and are not only addressing the pedagogical issues in campuses, but they have become society-wide challenges, including how higher education institutions are run.
Racism, history, higher education transformation, social justice and issues pertaining to massification in institutions of higher learning are all part of the students’ struggles embraced in #RhodesMustFall and #FeesMustFall campaigns.
The students’ struggles have been so positive in conscientising many of us who were not even considering some of the highlighted challenges as problems. Yet by the time the students marched on the Union Buildings; many citizens began to realise that the struggle was indeed for all. Various societal institutions and places from churches to townships all rallied behind the students. So many unaffording parents have given up on educating their children because of the unavailability of finance.
Many indigent families have able children who just have to stop advancing their education after passing matric because there is simply no money .
In other cases, students who are already at universities cannot proceed to the following year because there is not enough money in the family. This of course is complicated by the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) funding model. Parents who are professionals such as teachers and those in the police cannot afford paying for their children’s university fees.
The NSFAS funding model stipulates that they should afford, while in reality they can’t because the fees at higher education institutions are pricey. Therefore, many parents understood and supported the #FeesMustFall campaign. The campaign gave a voice to many families who were able to support an initiative that was selfless and a call for all those thirsty for education. The past rumblings were in some ways also positive in in raising national consciousness towards certain common issues that irk society. Yet the negatives spoil the good intention.
It was so disparaging to see the dying embers at North West University as the buildings collapsed under the conflagration. We should not condone mistakes while we see the positive in the movement; we forget to point out the bad in the process. Our universities need as many resources as possible. But when we destroy the little they have, we forget that the money to build these is the same money we need to fund various projects, especially for indigent students. Universities have valuable buildings such as laboratories, art galleries, archives, resident blocks and so on; it does not help our cause to burn these down when demanding what we want. Some of these are irreplaceable and form the basis of our academic life.
Some also form the basis of building us as intellectuals. The destruction that we see needs to be condemned by student leaders. One does not destroy in order to build.
The racial incidents at the University of Pretoria as well as the University of Free State have also shown how a good struggle can turn into anarchy.
The debate on the Afrikaans language is a legitimate one. People need to talk about the language policies that govern our universities. Society is still confused by the policy of 11 official languages when it is only two languages that are used in many official documents. But should students who are the future leaders be really taking on one another physically to resolve an issue?
Last month’s fisticuffs at the universities demonstrated how we have gone back to where we were in the 1990s. It seems we are a nation still trying to find itself.
The passion that the students show when they fight for their rights is commendable, but they can do better, for violence is not the only way out.
The language duel showed how much has not changed in our minds and how difficult it may be to move towards an ideal future that we may want as South Africans. The students fighting for the fall of Afrikaans appear to suggest that English will be better. Yet some of us may argue that the introduction of anglicised institutions may presage the downfall of indigenous languages.
The irony here is that English may be the one that sounds a death knell for the indigenous languages. This means that there will be a promotion of imperialism over the other. Arguably, this may seem to undermine the African rebirth. But we still need to applaud the students for raising these pertinent issues.
But as people, we need to understand that we cannot build anything on the pillage and mound of destruction and hatred. Indeed, more leadership from various corners of society need to look closely at the current melee before we move towards a situation where institutions cannot be restored.
The fight for justice should continue from all members of society, black and white. We still struggle to find justice in our society today.
The students started debates that some believe are long overdue. Maybe in our wariness of breaking the brittle reconciliation we refrained from digging deeper in questioning some ills in society. The students are asking the big, pertinent questions, but it will be conscientious leadership that would guide the processes.
It would also be precarious if the students’ struggles are hijacked by political parties, especially now; a time before the local government elections.
As Churchill said, “a good crisis cannot go to waste”. Certainly, there are elements of goodness in the current crisis.
*Professor Msila is the head of Unisa’s Institute for African Renaissance Studies. He writes in his personal capacity.
** The views expressed here are not necessarily those of Independent Media.
Pretoria News