Around mid October 2015, South African universities announced an increase in students’ fees by between 10% and 12%; the students were simply not having it. This sparked off protests, which continued for about eleven days in most of the universities across the country. Even though the students planned to protest peacefully, pockets of violence occurred. The reasons given by the universities have merit – for example, rising inflation rates impacting expenses, the need to increase salaries of staff and also, since the rand-dollar exchange rate had fallen by 22%, the increased cost of lecture/research equipment. These justifications for the increase seemed rational, as they were circumstances beyond the control of the university management.
Nonetheless, the protests continued because the proposed increase had simply highlighted other issues the students were unhappy about, such as lack of funding for poor students. One study showed that only 16% of poor black students who entered the higher education system graduated. Another sore point was the decline in funding for higher education. Although government funding had increased by 70% between 2001 and 2015, it has not been commensurate with enrollment, thereby leading to a decrease in subsidy per student. Complaints were also raised about the high incomes of university managers, the lack of social transformation, and racial discrimination. The students argued that increment of fees amounted to discrimination in a country where the average income of black families is less than that of white families. The #FeesMustFall protests culminated in a sit out at the South African parliament where President Zuma was addressing the lawmakers. After deliberating with the relevant authority, President Zuma decided to suspend the increase for three years, effectively shifting the burden to whoever takes over office from him.
This brings me to Nigeria. While issues like racial inequality in the educational system can be said to be peculiar to South Africa, the other highlighted problems are similar to Nigeria’s. Nigerian students since the mid/late 80’s have been deprived of student aid. Dwindling funding of the universities by the government has had a direct effect on the performance of students and staff motivation for research and lecturing. The Nigerian Universities Commission in a report in 2000 stated that “the expansion in the Nigerian universities system is not commensurate with increase in the level of funding to create a conducive environment for learning and it has had effects on the programmes taught at universities and invariably the graduates”. This report is still relevant today. Similarly noted was drop in the quality and quantity of research of higher education institutions in Nigeria. From the 60’s till the late 80’s Nigerian universities were the leading and best in sub-Saharan Africa. But that trend has changed.
While government is constitution bound to provide Nigerians with quality education, budgetary allocation for education has not matched up and is not reassuring. Education funding in Nigeria falls far below the minimum 26% of government expenditure recommended by UNESCO. Despite the rhetoric by successive governments, this illustrates a poor commitment to education. A consequence of this is the migration of academic staff to greener pastures, which has left a large vacuum in the quality of manpower development in the country. Other glaring effects of this inadequate funding include: inadequate and outdated library and laboratory materials; inadequate staffing and training, which invariably leads to poor motivation and low staff morale; inadequate resources for capital and recurrent expenditures, which have led to poor maintenance, suspension or abandonment of projects further leading to overcrowded and rundown facilities. These are often the causes of the incessant strike actions by students and staff that lead to instability in the academic calendar.
Finally and most unfortunately is the recurrent issue of sexual harassment of students by lecturers. While it is hard to say whether or not this has always been prevalent in the university system, it has created amongst students the immoral pattern of expecting to pass not through mental prowess but by offering themselves for the sexual gratification of their lecturers. By victimizing students who speak out against this evil, rather than punishing the offenders, school administrators compound the problem. The consequences are that undeserving students are rewarded with high grades and hardworking students who are unwilling to engage in these lewd acts are punished with failing grades.
The solution to these issues requires economic and social approaches, which might have informed the decision to set up the Education Tax Fund in 1993 under Act No.7. This fund is applicable to all Nigerian registered companies, which have to pay 2% of their profit. These funds are meant for the improvement of the Nigerian education sector. Although there has been massive development in tertiary education since 1960, it is doubtful if these developments have translated to quality and access to quality higher education among Nigerians.
The ultimate powers of society, according to Thomas Jefferson, lie with the people, but they need to be educated in order to exercise that power with due discretion.
Baba Mansur-Williams
