Chaos looms on campus

THE NEW Year will definitely start with fireworks – on Wits campus at least, after the university announced its decision to increase fees by 8 percent. Already the battle lines are being drawn with student leaders complaining about the timing of the decision, as the university year draws to a close and many students have already gone home.

The Students Representative Council claims it wasn’t consulted, but was in fact taken by surprise by the decision. The university responded by saying it did brief the SRC.

The SRC then complained there hadn’t been enough time to consult. Student leaders asked if the university had been able to hold a poll, which the Fallist movement roundly condemned earlier this year on whether or not to return to class, it could just as well have polled students on whether not to increase fees.

It’s a legitimate question. The moot question is whether the Fallists would have accepted a student body decision that gave the green light to a fees increase. The reality, though, is more nuanced. Universities have been allowed by government to increase fees, although these were capped at 8percent, exactly the amount Wits has increased them by. Expenses are running higher every year and if fees are not increased, then universities will have to restructure themselves – possibly limiting access to students who otherwise could have been accommodated, by laying off academic staff and stopping certain programmes, to balance their books.

There’s also the elephant in the room of government subsidies which have been steadily cut for years. Universities cannot solve this crisis on their own any more than the students can be expected to sort it themselves.

The issue is not about increases as such, but rather working as one towards a sustainable and equitable future.

If this week’s announcement is anything to go by, the omens are bleak. There will be no season of goodwill on campus nor any chance of a happy new year – and we are all the poorer for that.