#FeesMustFall

Article summary

# 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).

Key claims

1. P17: Q258 — source: Wikidata · confidence 0.95
2. P18: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FilePath/%27Do%20not%20shoot%27%20a%20group%20of%20students%20shout.JPG — source: Wikidata · confidence 0.95
3. P227: 1347906827 — source: Wikidata · confidence 0.95
4. P2671: /g/11bwgw4gnv — source: Wikidata · confidence 0.95
5. P31: Q273120 — source: Wikidata · confidence 0.95
6. P373: FeesMustFall movement — source: Wikidata · confidence 0.95
7. P5582: +619 — source: Wikidata · confidence 0.95
8. P580: 2015-10-12T00:00:00Z — source: Wikidata · confidence 0.95

Discussion questions

1. Summarise the article in your own words. Which single claim would you verify first, and why?
2. The record states that the P17 is "Q258". What evidence would count against this claim?
3. The record states that the P18 is "http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FilePath/%27Do%20not%20shoot%27%20a%20group%20of%20students%20shout.JPG". What evidence would count against this claim?
4. The record states that the P227 is "1347906827". What evidence would count against this claim?
5. The record states that the P2671 is "/g/11bwgw4gnv". What evidence would count against this claim?
6. The record states that the P31 is "Q273120". What evidence would count against this claim?
7. The record states that the P373 is "FeesMustFall movement". What evidence would count against this claim?
8. The record states that the P5582 is "+619". What evidence would count against this claim?
9. The record states that the P580 is "2015-10-12T00:00:00Z". What evidence would count against this claim?
10. Which claim in this article is most likely to be revised as the sources update? How would you check its current status?
11. If two sources disagreed about one of these facts, what would you need in order to trust one over the other?

Bibliography

No sources recorded.