“Fees Must Fall Campaign” in Higher Institutions of Learning: Understanding Staff Perceptions in University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

Abstract

Three South-African Universities, including University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN), constantly witnessed students’ protests because of yearly increment in tuition fees. In 2015/2016, an announcement of 10.5% tuition fee increment incited an even higher level of protests among students. Research on the perception of the impact of fees must fall campaign (FMFC), especially among university staff, remains minimal to date. The purpose of this study is to analyse the impact of the FMFC on the perception of academic staff of the University of KwaZulu-Natal. Staff perceptions contribute significantly to the success and failure of the university or any organization. Data were elicited through a qualitative approach, using in-depth interviews. The target population for this study were academic staff sampled from UKZN. A total of 20 academic staff were recruited with the convenient sampling approach. The NVivo (v.12) qualitative software was employed for the identification of themes and sub-themes while the content qualitative analytical tool was employed to make sense of the themes. The results of the study showed that the #FMFC decreased the quality of education; lectures were suspended for days; and the #FMFC caused disruption on campus for a substantial numbers of times.  Concerns were also that the image of the university had been negatively affected, and they felt unsafe. The study recommend the need for the injection of more funds through scholarship and bursary to cushion the effect of the increase in tuition fees, especially for the less-privileged students in order to tame the tide of consistent #FMFC protests.