Students wants reinstatement of grants, loans

The Zimbabwe Congress of Students Union (Zicosu) has urged the incoming Zanu-PF Government to re-instate students' grants and loans and do away with the cadetship programme.

In an interview on Friday, Zicosu national president Farai Mteliswa said:

"The cadetship scheme came as a measure of convenience during the country's economic meltdown and now that the economy has stabilised it is time for government to re-instate the students' grant and loan scheme," said Mteliswa.

He said the country has enough mineral riches to fund the students grant and loan scheme. He said the students' grants and loans would alleviate the plight of students at tertiary institutions, citing accommodation as the major problem.

The economic problems the country has been facing over the years has led to the Government curtailing spending on education, forcing tertiary institutions putting on halt most of its construction projects. Among the construction projects that were put on hold is the construction of residential halls. This has led students to scatter at residential homes near their institutions where they are often charged exorbitant rentals.

Mteliswa also urged the Ministry of Higher and Tertiary Education to work closely with the students' representative bodies saying the bodies knew the plight of students better. He also urged the Government to cancel outstanding fees for students.

"Institutions of higher learning are not profit-making organisations. They are State-owned and should cater for the members of the State. We think it is logical that the Government writes-off outstanding fees for students," he said.

He said university education is a basic right not a privilege and no university student should fail to graduate for failure to pay fees.