The development comes as the Ministry of Higher and
Tertiary Education, Innovation, Science and Technology Development is looking
at various fees proposals brought to its attention by the universities for
approval.
The ministry noted that there was a need to balance
university accessibility, provision of quality education and the sustenance and
maintenance of institutions.
Permanent Secretary in the Ministry Professor Fanuel
Tagwira said the Government agreed for universities to peg fees in USD after
concerns were raised that students were waiting for depreciation in value
before paying their fees and to avoid the process of adjusting the fees at
every turn.
“We are still in the process of looking at the fees
structures proposed by institutions. Some of them have been approved and the
Minister has signed.
“Some institutions are still working on the process
internally and are yet to submit their proposals. What we have agreed is that
fees should be pegged in USD but payable in any other currency,” said Prof
Tagwira.
He said as a ministry, they were keen on regulating tuition
fees with other costs like food and accommodation differing from institution to
institution.
“The reason why we agreed to pegging fees in USD is to
avoid a situation where fees have to be adjusted from time to time due to
fluctuations in the exchange rates. Institutions also observed that students
were not paying their fees and were waiting for the value to depreciate.
“However, while I cannot give the exact figure for tuition
at State universities, the fees that have been approved so far are very
reasonable. You will note that most of our universities are cheaper than most
secondary schools so that every child gets an opportunity to access education,”
said Prof Tagwira.
He said those who could not afford fees should approach
their institutions and access the work for fees programme which the Government
availed.
“You might recall that as Government we introduced the work
for fees programme which is slowly getting appreciated with more than 100 University
of Zimbabwe students having taken up the programme. If students do not want to
work then they are not in distress,” said Prof Tagwira.
Meanwhile, the Zimbabwe Open University (ZOU) students are
up in arms with authorities at the institution claiming they were not consulted
and are threatening not to pay fees.
According to a memo seen by Sunday News, which was signed
by the Harare Region secretary-general, Tinashe Tunha, the students said they
were not going to pay the fees.
“In light of the ongoing squabbles over the unjustified
fees increments, illegal conversion of Zimbabwe dollar fees ordinance to US
dollar at the end of last semester, lack of transparency and consultation by
the National SRC coupled with the arrogance of university administration, we
the Harare SRC, do hereby make a clarion call to all Harare Region students,
and all those who are in solidarity with us, to STOP paying any fees forthwith
until:
“a) The ZOU administration produces approval from the
Ministry of Higher and Tertiary Education, Innovation, Science and Technology
Development authorising them to convert Zimbabwe dollar fees balances to US
dollar.
“b) The National SRC comes clean on its endorsement of the
US$100 per course fees for the second semester of 2023.
“c) The administration and the National SRC begin to
consult students before charging fees in line with the audi alteram partem
(listen to the other side) principle.”
Bulawayo students also came through claiming solidarity
with other regions saying there would be no registration and fees payment until
the issue of fees increase was resolved.
“We find it not justifiable for ZOU to raise fees which by far does not meet the quality of services they are offering. We are printing out our own modules, we are having limited student-lecturer interaction, due to these reasons we find it not necessary for admin to raise fees. Sunday Mail
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