UNIVERSITY of Zimbabwe (UZ) has hiked accommodation fees from $71 000 to US$616 or the equivalent in local currency for the August to December semester.
Accommodation fees for the semester that ended on July 22
were equivalent to US$350.
In a notice seen by NewsDay, UZ acting registrar Munyaradzi
Madambi advised students that the payment is due on July 31.
“Those who have been offered on-campus accommodation for
the August-December semester are required to pay the accommodation fees
amounting to US$616 or its ZWL interbank rate equivalent at the time of
payment,” Madambi wrote.
“The university has, therefore, maintained the rate of
accommodation fees at US$5,50 per day or its Zimbabwe dollar equivalent for a
112-day semester. As you are aware, the university has now changed its
accommodation allocation policy, giving students the opportunity to apply for
accommodation for the subsequent semester at the end of each semester. Those
who do not take up their offers on or before the above-mentioned deadline will
have their provisionally allocated rooms revoked and extended to other students
on the waiting list.”
Zimbabwe National Students Union (Zinasu) president Benon
Ncube said the fee hike was unjustified.
“The accommodation fee hike is not justified because this
is a government institution. US$616 is too much considering that many parents
who send their children to universities get paid in local currency,” Ncube
said.
“These fee hikes remain the biggest problem hindering
students from completing studies. As it stands, rentals off campus are ranging
from US$70 to US$150 per head per month. They have also gone up to the extent
that most students would not be able to afford.”
A survey by NewsDay revealed that other universities have
not yet reviewed their accommodation fees for the forthcoming semesters.
Great Zimbabwe University’s accommodation fees was $30 000
for the semester ending on Friday, Midlands State University ($25 000), while
Chinhoyi University of Technology’s was equivalent to US$120. Newsday
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