It’s the second round of the #FeesMustFall protests, and the devastation is affecting many.

The right to free education is what the students are fighting for, and whether or not you agree with the way they are going about it, that’s really not the issue.

After all, these are not the first protests to be seen in South Africa’s universities, nor the most violent (although we are getting there).

But what do international media think? Well, one well-regarded publication, Quartz, published an opinion piece by Lynsey Chutel that touches on the fight and highlights the solution.

Titled Protests on South Africa’s university campuses aren’t going away anytime soon, nor should they, Chutel begins:

South Africa’s university campuses are in chaos as the Fees Must Fall movement for free education gathers momentum.

Several times over the last few weeks, riot police faced off against students singing liberation anthems while lecture halls, science labs and lawns reserved for graduation ceremonies have become the site of running battles, with teargas and stones exchanged in battle. Classes have been suspended for fear of students’ and lecturers’ safety. The students at the fore of these protests have vowed that no classes will continue until their rallying cry for free schooling becomes reality.

The most visible protest have taken place on South Africa’s formerly white-only campuses, led by the University of Cape Town and Johannesburg’s University of the Witwatersrand (known as Wits University).

Critics argue these protests are the actions of a privileged few since these once-segregated public schools remain the country’s best universities, and the most expensive. Most of South Africa’s 27 universities are in a dire condition, according to rights group Equal Education, but protests on these less prestigious campuses do not garner the same public attention.

She then moves on to the solution:

To provide free higher education would require financial restructuring that South Africa’s ailing budget cannot handle, according to treasury. Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan allocated 28 billion rand (just over $2 billion) for university subsidies and 14.3 billion rand (just over $1 billion) to the national funding scheme for the 2016/2017 financial year.

South Africa’s blueprint for national success, known as the National Development Plan, needs 1.6 million graduates by 2030. That would require at least 2% of the GDP, according to PWC South Africa and otheranalysts. South Africa spends less than 0.8% of its GDP on higher education. Gordhan has agreed to meet with protesting students in the coming days, but says South Africa’s 0.4% GDP growth rate meant the budget is already constrained.

But a leaked 2012 report outlining a model for free university for the country’s poorest students (those from homes with an income in the lowest tax bracket of 188,000 rand or $13,160) showed that free education is possible in South Africa. The report, commissioned by the higher education ministry, was only released after an activist group filed a freedom of information request, known in South Africa as Promotion of Access to Information Act application.

To read the full piece, pop over HERE and please, stop being too damn negative about people fighting for their right to something.

I don’t see anyone else trying to make a change.

[source:qz]