Overwhelming Response

None of these reasons alone was enough to spark off the recent protests. The only reason the VDS received such overwhelming response throughout the country is because students are irritated and disturbed by a combination of all these points.

As far as the future is concerned the following facts must be borne in mind;

Firstly, none of the grievances students are now protesting about can be cleared up in the immediate future. On the contrary some things such as social situation and university entrance conditions may well become worse

Secondly, in contrast to 1968 when contact between schools and universities was only just being built up, there is now very close contact between them and student unrest is now shared to a large extent by schools and parents.

There are considerable numbers of people living in the vicinity of universities and colleges who would not hesitate to take part in demonstrations if the situation does not change.

Thirdly, no responsible politician has a sure cure for unrest and dissatisfaction. There are always plenty of plans and proposals, but they are either utopian or clearly impossible to implement even on a modest scale.

For these reasons the present movement may well be continued, widened and radicalised. Conditions in universities, colleges and schools are such that unless changes are made students may resort to more drastic action in future than simply making a symbolic offering of a piglet.