Students’ union engages Govt on fees

Mashudu Mambo, Sunday News Reporter
THE Zimbabwe Congress of Students Union (Zicosu) is appealing to Government to reduce fees at tertiary institutions recommending that the fees should be structured according to the salary structure of civil servants.

Zicosu president Mr Takudzwa Gambiza said there was a need for the Government to restructure the fees to make tertiary education accessible to all young people.

“We need the most sought after higher education in Zimbabwe to be accessible to as many young people as possible. As such, the issue of fees should not be a hindrance factor.

“The ability and opportunity to access education should not be so much based on strong financial muscle but rather on intellectual capabilities, as such affordable fees that are in sync with civil servants pay structures may be a solution,” said Mr Gambiza.

He said there was need for the Government and the tertiary institutions to work together and come up with alternative ways to ensure that institutions do not entirely depend on the fees to ensure quality education.

“For the operations of our institutions there is a need for both Government and the institutions to come up with alternative ways of funding their operations and not entirely rely on the fees.

“There is a need for the two to find innovative ways which would see the lowering of fees while not threatening the quality of education. Universities should become the hub of knowledge and research that should bring about innovative ways to develop the economy and find ways of alleviating the challenges faced by our people,” said Mr Gambiza.

“We are already engaging the relevant authorities to try and get the Government to unveil grants that would be extended to the less privileged students. We managed to get the attention of President Mnangagwa at the Zanu-PF Congress and we have already engaged the new minister,” he said.

The president of Zicosu highlighted the challenges that were facing the students due to failure to pay fees.

“The failure to pay fees by students usually leads to failure to access their lectures, the library and they face challenges when they try to write exams. They face a lot of hurdles which at times causes unprecedented anxiety which is bad for one writing exams,” he said.