Is it time to wake up?

What are we waiting for? The people out there are calling for it. They need it. We need it. Then why are we so diffident about getting off the fence and responding to this call, a call to be not only a change but the change?

But who is pointing in the direction of Tal-Qroqq and accusing us of being passive and not interested in the real needs of our country? What are their agendas? Is there a pattern in the instances when they ask for action on our part? In what ways can we take up their call? Who will lead us? Can a lethargic lecturer ever instil in his students the ardent will to act? This series of questions spins in my mind every time I hear someone call for this impetus which should drive ‘the minds’ at university to ask for and fight for things to be different. But…which are the things which need to change? Are they things which can be changed? What will these changes involve?

It is said we lack the quality and the attributes to challenge what is smothering us and strive for something better. We are not as good as the ones before us. The country seems to look back with nostalgia on the days when University was the fighting armour of the valiant and righteous.

We lack the quality to meet the industry’s needs and expectations. It’s the employers who say it and grumble about it. But have the industrial and commercial sectors earned the right to demand this compliance to their needs through the contribution they give to our educational system, or have they been passive and nonchalant about it?

We lack the quality to push for change. Politicians and journalists say this and rant about it. But do they promote change? Is it true they want us to act? What would happen to them if we really did something tangible about the things that need an overhaul?

The general public beyond the university precincts perceives us as completely paralysed, blocked at the thought of engaging in these ‘extra academic’ activities. But how extra is it for economics students to look into the national yearly budget and, why not contribute to the nationwide consultation? Isn’t it beneficial for medical students to follow closely the migration process from St. Luke’s to Mater Dei? Could it be that this apparent paralysis has come about because our aims are attainable and not so distinct from what we presently have? It is certain that we have learnt to procrastinate doing something about them. It is also a fact that we aren’t experiencing any suppression by any authoritarian regime like some of our Iranian counterparts who dream of freeing their country of certain undemocratic laws and customs. Consequently, the mobilisation of students to rally in the streets of Malta is a highly unlikely option for the resolution of issues.

But have students ever achieved anything through their direct engagement in their national political and social scene? Those who have any doubts about this might give a look around us. Have we forgotten the cultural change which was kicked off in May 1968 and shook up the French Establishment? The French students rocked the "status quo" in many social aspects like traditional morality, with reforms later introduced affecting mainly the education system and employment. They wanted to eradicate class discrimination in French society and the political bureaucracy that controlled the funding of schools. And where did it all start? Yes, that’s it. The Nanterre University council room filled with students.

We should be grateful that we don’t have such big battles to fight locally but we do have our own social and political alarm bells to ring. What are the alarm bells you feel you should ring?

This can be easily discarded as a letter from a student adrift in his own thoughts, aimlessly shooting questions for who knows which reason. I’d like to describe it as an invitation to think, since if we don’t think we won’t ever decide; if we do not decide then we won’t act and if we don’t act, things will assuredly remain as they are. I know we are capable of much more than what we are doing at the moment. Shall we think about it or shall we go back to sleep?

Joseph Gilson is part of the University students’ InSite team. www.insite.org.mt