Scrap science and start all over: #FeesMustFall students

Two themes which dominated the #FeesMustFall protests over the last year are: free education for everyone, and the decolonisation of universities.

Free tertiary education, and the ability of the government to fund it, has been discussed in-depth. The aspect of decolonisation, however, has not enjoyed the same attention.

One of the protesting students, Tshepiso Modupe, said decolonisation requires the entire education system to be restructured.

“From the time that it was colonised there was never an attempt to decolonise the university. The university culture is still very white, it’s very elitist, patriarchal, and it’s very heteronormative,” said student leader Kealeboga Ramaru.

Scratch science as a whole: students

In a video titled Science Must Fall, a student leader explains that science must be “done away with entirely” and that local universities must “start over again.”

“Science as a whole is a product of Western modernity, and the whole thing should be scratched off,” she said.

“We have to restart science from an African perspective, from our perspective, of how we experienced science.”

She went on to describe how people in KwaZulu-Natal believe that black magic can be used to “send lightning” to strike someone. “Can you explain that science?” she asked.

MyBroadband has learned that students have even demanded that all university buildings which were built in a Western style be demolished and replaced with buildings in an African style.

The video where the #FeesMustFall student leaders discuss the issue of the decolonisation of science is below.