Students Bearing Brunt of govt Failures

Columnists
I AM astonished that the state has now resorted to using students as a foreign currency generating project.

I AM astonished that the state has now resorted to using students as a foreign currency generating project.

Following the announcement in this week’s issue of the Sunday Mail by the Minister of Education that all state universities should charge fees not less than US$1 000 one wonders where they think the students will get that kind of money from.

Whilst we recognise that the state wants students to pay that kind of money so that the academic year commences, how they expect us to raise that kind of money is beyond me. I find this move perplexing considering that they as a government have failed to to pay teachers in foreign currency.

Upon hearing the government’s proposal for students to pay not less than US$1 000 the state universities accepted this gesture with open arms and it took them milliseconds to adjust the fees to the astronomical levels they are now at.

Midlands State University for example has reviewed its fee structure starting from US$1 330 up to as much as US$2 450.  To justify this they have added new terms such as ancillary’s fee and field trip fee. As for the field trip fee I see no point in charging it to all the departments as some never go on field trips and if they do they usually pay for them.

What I am failing to understand is that the state which is supposed to help and protect the students is now at the forefront of mauling  them.

How is it possible that they (the students) are the ones who are now paying for the failure of the government to deliver?

The students are not the ones who are supposed to cover the void which was created by the government; instead it should have the ability to fight for the cause of those it is supposed to serve.

Education in Zimbabwe has become a luxury that very few can afford. It is becoming more and more impossible for one to get just a simple education. Only God knows whether we will be able to get back to college and finish our degrees.

Worried student,Harare.