FeesMustFall facts for kids
Quick facts for kids #FeesMustFall |
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A group of students raise their hands in the air to signal that they have come in peace.
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| Date | 12 October 2015 – October 2016 |
| Location |
South Africa
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| Caused by | An increase in fees by South African universities |
| Methods | Protest |
| Resulted in |
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| Casualties | |
| Arrested | 619 |
#FeesMustFall was a student-led protest movement that began in mid-October 2015 in South Africa. The goals of the movement were to stop increases in student fees as well as to increase government funding of universities. Protests started at the University of Witwatersrand and spread to the University of Cape Town and Rhodes University before rapidly spreading to other universities across the country. Although initially enjoying significant public support the protest movement started to lose public sympathy when the protests started turning violent.
The 2015 protest ended when it was announced by the South African government that there would be no tuition fee increases for 2016. The protest in 2016 began when the South African Minister of Higher Education announced that there would be fee increases capped at 8% for 2017; however, each institution was given the freedom to decide by how much their tuition would increase. By October 2016, the Department of Education estimated that the total cost in property damage due to the protest since 2015 had amounted to R600 million (equivalent to US$44.25 million).
The 2019 film Everything Must Fall documents the 2016 FeesMustFall protests.
Images for kids
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Students from the University of Cape Town marching to the local police station on Tuesday 20 October 2015 to demand the release of other students arrested the night before.
