Students must be heard if academic transformation is to be realised
Universities appear to have lost their appetite for social justice, but it is imperative for their continued global relevance
In the past three years, university students in SA led countrywide protests demanding transformation, an end to outsourcing of contract workers, as well as free quality education. In the mainstream media and literature, these protests have been branded as the fallist movement, based on their various hashtag themes: #RhodesMustFall, #OutsourcingMustFall, #SexualHarassmentMust Fall and #FeesMustFall. This movement demonstrated the potent role and agency of the youth and students on the scale witnessed in the 1970s and 1980s at the height of the anti-apartheid struggle. Many universities and academics had long lost their appetite or urgency for transformation and their quest for social justice — but they had to respond or react to these demands. Many universities have embraced transformation as an imperative that seeks to eradicate colonial, apartheid and imperial legacies while also repositioning the higher education sector for global competitiveness and relevance. Society has general...
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