WE thank the government for noting that the college tuition fees proposed by the then Acting Finance minister Patrick Chinamasa were absurd.
We still believe that there is something that can be done about these fees considering that the majority are not earning above US$200.
We still do not have faith that the government can be able to pay for students through the cadetship programme as we all know that it has no sufficient resources.
We will continue experiencing strikes at these institutions particularly by non-academic staff as they earn from the money generated from tuition fees.
It is better to have fees that are reasonable to all stakeholders which will result in more money being generated, thereby lessening the burden on government.
The majority of students are now applying for the cadetship programme which is not remitting the money to the institutions thereby straining the resources available to universities.
As a result Nust authorities have made a deadline for registration on March 16 2009 and they have warned students that they will not write exams if they do not pay by the stipulated date.
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This kind of action actually poses confusion amongst students and it disturbs us in our studies.
We need the government to come out in the open and state its position concerning this kind of behaviour by tertiary institutions. Nust has gone on to charge exam fees for the first time since its inception, and that cannot be tolerated at all.
The government should publicise its real position on these issues rather than abuse the media for no reason at all. What is Stan Mudenge doing?
All that he announced that he would set out to do through the state media is not actually happening. The fees that they announced for the humanity subjects are US$300 but they then charge other levies thereby increasing the fee to almost US$400.
Nust authorities should explain why they are seemingly defiant of government policy. We appreciate that the institutions fund their operations on their own but there are other investments which produce significant returns.
They also have to bear in mind that they were formed to benefit society not as a business venture.We also insist that the ordinances at state institutions be replaced by those which do not violate academic freedoms.
Students deserve to be treated as human beings and their rights deserve to be respected. There are students who have been suspended whilst others have been expelled because of their political affiliations and they need to be reinstated.
I urge all students from the four corners of the country to continue fighting until our colleagues have been reinstated and academic freedoms are observed.Concerned student,Harare.
