Managing student unrest in a South African university: A case study

Abstract

Higher education and training institutions in South Africa have been plagued by nationwide student unrest and crises for the past few years. This has been a problem for the nation's colleges and universities. This is not just a problem for higher education in South Africa; similar problems exist in nations like Ghana, Nigeria, the United States among others. Most of these unrests are linked to lack of appropriate forum for dialogue between university administration and the students, and neither side is prepared to yield and make concessions. Therefore, it is necessary to ameliorate the conflictual gap between students and management so that the two can interact without interfering with the learning process. Therefore, this study sought to answer the following question: How can the prevalence of student unrest be managed in South African universities to ensure peaceful university education and its productivity? Using decoloniality theory, the study was underpinned by Transformative Paradigm as the research paradigm. The research design used was Participatory Research (PR) and method of data collection was focus group discussion (FGD). Participants were selected using a homogeneous sampling technique. The data was analysed using Braun and Clarke six-step thematic analysis.

The study revealed that lack of the proper structure to manage unrest, failure to involve the student in decision-making, and power differentials between students and university authorities are the challenging factors in the management of student unrest. And the neglect of rural universities, especially those merged with the campus in urban areas, and violent behaviour stems from society are also the two themes that have come as other contributing issues to student unrest in rural universities. And the possible solutions to the above challenges were the development of proper structures, involvement of stakeholders in decision making and development of common ground between the stakeholders could be used as solutions.

It was recommended that society be brought into the picture in order to properly address the issue of student unrest. It has been embedded into the society that for your demands to be heard, for example, when you need water, you must burn the library, and this has been inculcated into the youth of the country; therefore, universities must find ways of ensuring that this culture is unlearned among students. Secondly, the integration of students is a much-needed strategy. That is, students from high school need to be properly integrated into the university, which is a new environment for them and that comes with independence. Thirdly, universities that have undergone the merger process need to pay attention to such as it has brought a lot of inequality between the campuses through amalgamation.