Universities warned on fees

THE Ministry of Higher and Tertiary Education, Science and Technology Development has warned State universities against increasing fees any time soon as doing so would be unjustified.

The Deputy Minister of Higher and Tertiary Education, Godfrey Gandawa said the government would not tolerate an increase in the fees to overburden parents.

"There will not be any fee increments for State universities because we see no reason for them to be increased," said Gandawa.

His concerns come at a time when there is speculation that some universities are planning to hike fees after the government indicated that it was considering weaning off the institutions or make them pay a certain percentage of their workers' salaries.

The Zimbabwe Congress of Students Union (Zicosu) president at the National University of Science and Technology Shadowlit Ndou commended the government saying its stance on fees would ease the burden on both parents and students.

"As student representative leaders this is what we have been fighting for because we know that money is hard to come by," said Ndou.

"This is a good pass for students and parents by the ministry, because an increase in fees would have seen a lot of tertiary students deferring their studies due to lack of finances."

Parents with children enrolled at higher tertiary institutions praised the government for taking this initiative saying it appreciates the plight of the people.

"I'm very happy that the government has said this because we struggle to raise the necessary money that is needed by these universities," said Nokuthula Ndlovu, a parent.

"Now that they have said they will be no increase we will try our level best to raise the stipulated fees by the universities."