We don't need 'NO' education

Pink Floyd was one of the greatest bands of the late 60s, 70s and early 80s. Given the backdrop of protesting students and rubber bullets bouncing through the streets of Johannesburg, we thought it appropriate to look at the words from one of their better

but the words serve nicely as an opener to a discussion on the university fees protests taking place in South Africa at the moment.  In our view students taking part in these actions are campaigning on a totally different 'anti' ticket. Perhaps something with a real South African flavour, something known as anti-accountability!

The notion of accountability is one sorely missed in our country. And it is exactly this lack of accountability that rates throwing stones at police as an acceptable way to voice your displeasure over an 8% to 14% university fee hike.

Retiring the "we demand" era

South Africans could be excused for thinking they had graduated from the "we demand" era. Unfortunately the phrase is still in common use, and can be heard at any of a number of protests on service delivery and now tertiary education fee disputes too.

To demand is to ask (precluding debate or dispute) authoritatively for something. In other words "this is what we want and we will not enter into any discussion on the matter." It is this elimination of discussion which usually leads to the word "demand" and violent protest going hand in hand. Participants in mass demonstrations feel obligated to punctuate their demands with a few randomly aimed missiles, a scattering of rubbish and a burning tyre or two.

The unfortunate third party usually called in to make clear to the 'demandee' that the 'demandor' has no intention of giving in is the long-suffering South African Police Service. They use rubber bullets and teargas to punctuate their response.

Sticking it to authority

Those students who believe their protests are sticking it to authority are fairly misguided. Universities have little choice but to accept fees from those attending their establishments in order to keep their doors open. They do not receive subsidies from the state commensurate with the inflation induced increases in running costs. Hiking fees is a reasonable response to the inflationary cost environment in which universities and other businesses operate.

Instead of trashing campuses, causing damage to property and disrupting fellow students and lecturers it is time for students to get smart. There are at least two easier options to address the fees problem. The first would be to lobby (not demand) government to increase contributions to universities. And the second would be for students to approach (not attack) big business to set up more bursaries, funds or trusts to help students who are struggling with university fees.

Each of these is sensible alternative which demonstrates the level of maturity one would expect from a student at a tertiary education.

The ultimate irony

The ultimate irony for the thousands of high school dropouts who adopted Pink Floyd's anthem as their own is the conundrum in the words. Applying pauses (and allowing for the less than perfect grammar) one is left with two interpretations.

MS Word's spell checker is probably the closest most of us come to a grammar lesson these days. Plug the above phrase into spell check and it throws out a 'negation use' error. The quick fix is to replace "no" with "any" and the yobs singing this line in the song mean it exactly like that. "We dont need any education," they cry. If you read the phrase: we don't need [pause] no education, the meaning is totally different. The poor grammar results in a meaning exactly opposite to that intended.

Some good can be taken from even the worst situation. Perhaps we should be happy that local students adopt the latter interpretation of the words. They realise they need an education and are expressing unhappiness at not being able to afford it.

South African students are not alone in this fate though. University students in every country in the world emerge from their courses with substantial debt. That is how the world works. You make debt while you study, you appreciate how important the opportunity is, you work hard and get good grades, you get a job on completing your diploma and you pay back the loan that made your studies possible in the first place. South African university students: "Welcome to the real world!"

Editor's thoughts:
Education standards in South Africa seem on a downward spiral at present. The various departments of education are under pressure to perform. Their response of simply lowering matric pass requirements has resulted in shocking feedstock for South Africa's universities. What proactive steps can we take to improve the situation? Send your comments to [email protected]