By Patience Malunga
The fees must fall campaign in South Africa eventually
led to a non-increment to the tuition fees. Well done South Africa student community!
However, I am bitterly bleeding and asking myself when the circumstances of Zimbabwean
students will change.
Most of us
students in tertiary institutions are relying on a payment plan because our
parents cannot afford the exorbitant tuition fees .My question is for how long
are you going to use a payment plan that you cannot even afford to pay on time
to access your education ?
Right now you are almost concluding a semester but the
surprising thing is you do not even know if you passed the previous semester
examinations because your results are withheld, you have not cleared last semester’s
fees. Is this how things should be?
Most of us have graduated and still we do not have our
original transcripts and certificates because we are owing the cadetship scheme
which the government was supposed to pay, but instead its now our personal
obligation to pay the bill. My question, is for how long Zimbabwean students?
Most of us are paying tertiary tuition which is above
600 US dollars yet our parents still earn below the poverty datum line. Is this
not a wakeup call?
Needless to speak about the power cuts that affect our
reading, the water shortages that affect our health, the exorbitant rentals etc.
When the French revolution broke out some historians
said it was because of the winds of change blowing across Europe. Is this not a
wind of change blowing across the student community in Southern Africa?
Education must be accessible #FEESMUSTFALL.
