From protest to solutions

NOW that students have captured the imagination of the nation and made university management and government leadership sit up and listen, they must take the opportunity to have a far-reaching effect on higher education policy.

Having achieved their short-term goal of a 0% increase of university fees in 2016, students must be careful not to throw the baby out with the bath water.

With channels of engagement open and universities and the government applying their minds to finding ways to accommodate their demands, students should use these platforms to open administrators eyes to feasible alternatives to the status quo.

At the University of Johannesburg and University of Cape Town, where student protests are continuing, management has assented to other demands, including looking to reverse the outsourcing of support staff.

But these young intellectuals have not seen the victories as warranting a return to the exam room. And they have acted to prevent other students from doing so.

Their use of intimidation tactics is unbecoming.

Their being at university means that they are the cream of SA’s intellectual crop.

They are leaders of society in training, who should exercise their creativity and intellect to come up with solutions.

But if enthusiastic student activists persist in antagonising university management by disrupting exams and intimidating fellow students they discredit their own cause.

They leave us wondering about the quality of intellectualism produced at the country’s universities.

These institutions house academics who pursue research in different fields, so it is expected from those who are trained here to excel in the area of problem-solving.

It is not enough for them, like the rest of society, to be able to identify problems and challenges. They must be the ones to offer solutions.

What hope is there for society if these conscientious students relegate themselves to mere placard carriers and slogan chanters?

By making these types of activities the be-all and end-all of their approach to this struggle for affordable and accessible higher education, they reveal that they themselves are missing the point of having such access.

Protesting students lost a lot of valuable lecture and exam time while pursuing their cause. That was a big sacrifice to make at this late stage in the academic year.

Their struggle will be undermined if they go on to lose an academic year of study. This would create a barrier to entry for those coming after them.

Students must now move beyond protest and apply their minds to finding credible solutions.