Time to shake off our apathy
Students, society as whole must join forces, make higher education a priority
Over the years, student unions worldwide have shaken nations and put governments out of commission. So why does it feel like students in Israel are utterly impotent?
Israeli students have taken blow after blow from various governments, but Olmert's has recently outdone them all with an attempt to approve an unprecedented tuition hike without consulting student unions. Yet can anyone imagine Israeli students bringing Olmert down?
The big difference between Israel and other nations in this respect may be summed up in one word: Apathy - not just apathy among students, but apathy to certain issues that is deeply entrenched within society. While Israelis seethe over questions related to security for example, they neglect to pay attention to the fact that without a proper basis of intelligent and educated minds in this country, we shall have no security.
As for the students, the strikes they do embark on are usually lacking. In other countries, such demonstrations often carry a political message that other segments of society can relate to. For example, students in France waged war on the government's economic policies, thus fighting for something blue-collar workers could relate to.
In Israel, however, student demonstrations are mostly staged when tuition is set to go up – that is, financial issues directly affecting the students. Issues such the erosion of professors' salaries did not shake these young men and women out of their apathy. Neither do they mind when research departments suffer budget cuts, condemning many of them to death; or when junior and outside lecturers are paid salaries that would make their Western counterparts chuckle.
Education a precious resource
Where is the connection between society and students, which we see expressed so enthusiastically in Europe for example? Perhaps this connection is lacking here because there is no collaboration between the two elements. A student strike receives almost no support from the labor unions, just as student unions remain silent (or at least passive) when the rights of the country's blue-collar workers are trampled upon by the government. This lack of cooperation and solidarity is detrimental to both sides.
Most importantly, students must realize how much power they could wield if they would only shake off the apathy. Firstly, students constitute a huge electorate. Why not use this power to demand leaders who actually care about higher education and rewarding the minds that lead it? Secondly, by supporting the labor unions, students could help bring about a substantial change in labor conditions, while gaining the unions' support on tuition issues.
Finally, a high percentage of the country's reserve force is made up of students, and this can certainly be used to leverage the dealings of students vis-à-vis the government. Leaders who demand so many years of army service from their citizens should provide them with high quality education.
Indeed, both students and society in Israel must wake up - the government has been squeezing the life out of higher education in this country for many years now, despite this being one of our most precious resources. If we don't do something now, we will be too dumb to do anything about it in the future.
Adi Dvir is a Ynetnews editor
