Chronicle Editor
The decision by some State universities to increase tuition fees by more than 1 000 percent without Government approval is outrageous and should be reversed. Fees for block release students have been increased from $1 300 to between $9 600 and $15 000 per semester.
The institutions of higher learning are deliberately making education a preserve of the rich which is against Government policy and this should be stopped. It is a fact that most workers in Zimbabwe are earning ZW$2 000 or below a month and as such most of them cannot afford to pay for university fees for themselves or their children.
We appreciate the need for students to pay fees that meet the costs of running the programmes but not these outrageous figures being proposed. The same university workers who are at pains to try and justify the ridiculous fees being proposed are not earning the level of salaries to afford such fees.
It will be an infringement on the Zimbabweans’ right to education if the proposed fees were to be allowed to stand. The Minister of Higher and Tertiary Education, Innovation Science and Technology Development Professor Amon Murwira has said the increases are illegal as Government has not approved them.
The universities are however arguing that the fees for block release and cohort programmes are not governed by Government and as such the universities can review them anytime. “Every State university is governed by Government and there are no fee increments that were approved for all State universities,” said Prof Murwira.
He however said fees will be adjusted and even after the review the fees are not likely to be more than $5 000 per semester. We need at this juncture to point out that most civil servants are earning less than ZW$2 000 a month and will therefore find it very difficult to pay even the $5 000.
It is important for universities and schools to be guided by the level of salaries being paid by both the public and private sectors when pegging fees. What do universities and schools intend to achieve when they charge fees that most pupils or students cannot afford?
We have already pointed out that it is against Government policy to make education at all levels a preserve of the rich and Minister Murwira should move swiftly to rein in errant universities that are insensitive to the plight of students many of whom are already contemplating dropping out because they cannot afford the proposed fees.
The block release and cohort programmes fees should be approved by Government to protect students. Most of the students on block release are workers who are sacrificing the little they are earning to advance themselves academically and should therefore not be punished by universities.
Bongani Ndlovu
Online Reporter