Nigeria’s experience
Chilling case of subjugation when campuses play with fire
The debate about free education in SA won’t end any time soon, as students are demanding that "fees must fall". What many don’t seem to realise is that something else is on the verge of toppling: academic standards. It’s just a matter of time before universities reach the tipping point into decline. All the hard work that’s been done to set high standards and establish a good research reputation on the African continent and further afield could be undone. Students constitute a vibrant part of civil society, a natural element of a democratic society such as SA’s. Today, the students’ concern is access to decolonised, free and quality education. Later, they may turn their attention to something that doesn’t directly relate to their own welfare, but that of society at large. History tells us that students can topple governments. They can drive regime change. In Indonesia, for example, the student movement played an instrumental role in Suharto’s political manoeuvres and eventual takeov...
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