The Student Symposium on Open Education for Social Justice was held on 12 May 2025 at the University of Cape Town (UCT).
In line with the 10th anniversary of the #FeesMustFall movement, the aim of the symposium was to take a student-led approach to grappling with calls to address increasing inequality and the access crisis in higher education, continued calls for transformation, the increasing need for student voice and partnership, and the need to foster student inclusion in institutional missions and strategies to advance the open education for social justice agenda in higher education.
Specifically, the symposium aimed to identify the key issues students face in their learning experiences and the potential of open education and student co-creation in higher education as paradigms for social justice and transformation.
The objectives of the event were to:
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Identify challenges and opportunities in student learning experiences related to access, affordability and inclusivity.
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Understand the impact of open educational resources, contextual relevance and multilingualism.
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Empower students with knowledge and tools to engage in open education.
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Foster student-led advocacy and institutional collaboration.
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Promote student partnerships, redefine the role of student in shaping the future of open education for development.
Drawing inspiration from the UNESCO Future of Open Education in South African Higher Education Symposium held in June 2024, the event was co-hosted by the Digital Open Textbooks for Development (DOT4D) initiative at UCT in partnership with the University of South Africa (UNISA) and North-West University (NWU).