Lack of funding for cadetship scheme drawback for students

This will likely intensify the struggle he has been facing as a cadetship beneficiary. While he is grateful for the financial assistance he is receiving under the programme, his course has been mostly marred by threats of being barred from writing examinations.
“Last year, just before exam writing I spent a week trying to register for exams because the university had not received the money for cadetship students. I had lost all hope of sitting for my exams that semester because the administration made it clear that we would not write exams.
“It was only on a Friday that the university registrar told the exams department to allow cadetship students to register for exams which were beginning the coming Monday. This disturbed my studies because instead of preparing for the exams I was queueing at the administration office trying to plead and I was uncertain of the response that I was going to get,” said Tapiwa.
He said some cadetship students who were facing the same problem as his gave up on writing that semester while others were forced to pay the money themselves. Tapiwa said the hardships he experienced at the time convinced him that the cadetship programme had failed him.
He said the university often received money for cadetship students towards the end of each semester, which made it difficult for them to attend lectures, as they would not be having registration slips.
“Without the registration slip you can only attend lectures at the mercy of lecturers and some of them forbid us to attend lectures. We cannot access the library and laboratory without registration.
“This means for most of the duration of our semesters we cannot access these facilities considering that we only get registered way into the semester. It is really difficult learning under such conditions because of these constraints,” said Tapiwa.
To him and many other students, being enrolled under the cadetship scheme came as a relief as they could finally access the education they desired, thanks to the Government. Some students were only able to undergo studies through assistance from the cadetship scheme, which has become their hope for funding.
However, for others their dependence on the scheme has left them feeling like destitutes.
Emmanuel Mthombeni, a student at the National University of Science and Technology, who is also on the cadetship scheme, said the beginning of every semester meant he would have to spend several weeks trying to get clearance that would enable him to attend lectures.
“In addition to the delays in accessing the money for our fees, the treatment that we get from university officials when we seek clearance as cadetship students turns us into a suffering group. We are treated as beggars that need to be delivered by the officials.
“Some students have received threats of getting scrapped from the scheme by the university officials and I am sure some have already been scrapped. We do not deserve such treatment as cadetship students; the fact that we cannot finance our own education does not mean we have to be seen as destitutes,” said Emmanuel.
When consulted on the issue, Deputy Minister of Higher and Tertiary Education Lutho Tapela said he was not aware of the move by university officials to scrap students from the cadetship scheme.
He said no such action was legitimate as the Government was the one that placed students on cadetship and as such was solely responsible for deciding whether to remove a beneficiary or not.
Emmanuel added that for some students, cadetship money could be accessed after three weeks while for others it could take even longer.
“For some students the money would not be reflecting in their accounts way into the semester and it is only after the university contacts the Government offices and notifies them that is when an attempt to rectify the problem is made.
“All the while, students would be missing out on their lectures as they try to get through the whole registration process,” said Emmanuel.
He said enrolling under the scheme was the only resort for him to continue with his studies adding that the Government had to largely consider that many students were depending on it. “My parents could not afford to pay my fees which forced me to defer my studies. Many students depend on Government funding to pursue their education and as such government has a duty to cater for Zimbabwean students,” said Emmanuel.
Another cadetship student from Bulawayo Polytechnic’s Department of Information Science said she believed the role that the Government had of financing university students involved providing equal funding for students studying within and outside the country.
“I think the Government is prioritising financing students that are getting education in international institutions. We deserve equal treatment and the funds that are available should be shared equally.
“As students who are learning in Zimbabwe we are not receiving enough assistance from Government. Support should not only be restricted to paying three quarters of our total fees. The Government should plan to expand its intervention because empowering students is necessary,” she said.
Under the cadetship scheme, the Government pays three quarters of the total fees for students enrolled under the scheme. The student then has to pay the remainder.
In some institutions, students can only go through the registration process once they have paid their portion of the fees. Last week, the Government announced that there was no money for students on the cadetship scheme, a development that did not go down well with many students under the scheme.
A cadetship student under the Mass Communication Department at Harare Polytechnic College said:
“We were given the go-ahead to apply for the cadetship scheme this year only for us to be told that the Government does not have the necessary finances. Why did the Government raise false hopes when they knew that for this year there were no funds allocated towards the cadetship scheme?
“I had to stand in long queues in order to be enrolled under the programme but now I feel I did all that in vain,” he said.
He said it seemed the Government was putting little consideration into matters of funding students’ education.
“It has to be a priority for Government to fund education and as such that must be a priority for Treasury every year. They say students are the future leaders and they can only be leaders if they are educated,” he said.
Deputy Minister Tapela said the recent announcement he made on the unavailability of money for students on cadetship did not mean students would stop learning.
“As long as a student is registered under cadetship then he or she will remain in school. It is the Government that currently owes the institution until the issue is resolved and not the student,” he said.
He said he was aware of the delays in releasing funds to institutions but said it was largely because Treasury took long in releasing funds directed towards the scheme.
Deputy Minister Tapela said under the cadetship scheme the Government catered for a certain section of the student’s fees and the rest, the student had to pay.
“The student on cadetship has to pay the amount he or she owes the institution. The amount we pay as the Government does not cater for expenses such as laboratory and library expenses and if the student has not paid for those expenses then we do not interfere on the action that will be taken by the institution.
“As the Government the only order we can give to protect cadetship students is that no student under cadetship must be chased out of lectures,” said Deputy Minister Tapela.
According to figures released by the Ministry of Higher Education last year, 33 568 students were on cadetship out of a student population of 75 000 and only US$7 million was paid to tertiary institutions while US$15 million remained outstanding.
The cadetship scheme was introduced in 2007 by the Government to assist students without the capacity to pay their own fees. Students on the scheme are bonded once they complete their studies so that their skills can be retained anywhere in the country
However, some students fail to secure jobs after their studies. Others secure employment positions that are below their standard of education.