Cadetship - slavery for graduates?

There was a time when tuition fees - especially for students in state universities throughout the country - were not a catalyst for headaches, especially in light of government's efforts to ensure that education was affordable for all.

But after years of running battles between university students and government over a raft of teething issues including fees, residential and catering facilities in the institutions of higher learning, government recently introduced a cadetship programme to 'assist' students who are unable to pay fees.

At face value, this idea could have been a panacea for most students trapped in the fees predicament, but the opposite is true as most students who spoke to NewsDay thought otherwise.

Under this programme, students are asked to pay a minimal amount of money to complete their programmes and when they are through, they would be bonded for years equalling their tenure of studies, during which they cannot join the great trek outside country were the grass is generally believed to be greener.

A University of Zimbabwe (UZ) student, Reuben Moyo, said he only managed to escape the programme through eating into a huge chunk of his recently retired father's pension.

He recalled that during his first year at the UZ in 2006, his "fees were lower than those of a primary school pupil".

He added that it was ironic that government, which employs most of the students' parents who earn between $100 and $200, would expect those same parents to pay fees ranging from $400 to $700.

"I think this is a deliberate ploy on the part of the government to increase fees beyond our reach to corner us," he said.

It would appear that by introducing the cadetship programme, the government was trying to create a win-win situation.