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ZIMBABWEEducation for the elitist!by Tonderayi Mukeredzi (995 words)
Once, Zimbabwe was faced with the problem of too many educated people chasing too few jobs but now, with the recent cut by government on university education funds, most students many of them poor, think that they may never attain university education, an action that eventually may deplete Zimbabwe's human resource base. A lot of children from poor families have failed to attain university education for financial reasons, and now with the newly implemented fees structure, more are expected to fall by the wayside. A high number of students are dropping from school nowadays because their parents can not afford the cost of education any more. More and more are now depending on the state sponsored but cash strapped Social Dimension Fund, SDF, a welfare fund set up to take care of the poor. When the incumbent government led by president Robert Mugabe got into power,17 years ago, it introduced mass education which saw primary education free, an effort made to redress the imbalance created by the Rhodesian regime. Until now, university education was also subsidised with students allocated 100 percent sponsorship, 75 percent of it loan and the rest being a grant, payable upon completion of studies. The Rhodesian government was notorious for denying an equal opportunity to education for blacks. It employed what was then known as the "bottle neck system" whose duty was to disallow as many blacks as possible through the education system. Educated blacks were then regarded as a serious threat to the status quo. The Zimbabwean government recently, (starting with the university semester that began in March), cut the initial 100% funding to university students. The students are now required to get an automatic 50 percent sponsorship from government, and settle the other half.themselves University of Zimbabwe students, who are among the recipients of sponsorship from the government (there are three state Universities), staged a demonstration in April of this year against this decision.. The students argue that the new system will have adverse effects on poor students. However, the government has reiterated, through its Higher Education Minister, Ignatious Chombo, that it is not going to change its stance, and has thus stressed that genuinely needy students will have to reapply for financial aid. Students are wary of this because they think it is going to be difficult for the state to judge who does and who does not qualify for additional funding. They feel that, that feat should be left to the university. Government appears to be of the opinion that most students have the capacity to foot their education cost alone despite statistics revealing that at least three quarters of the students come from poor backgrounds. It was agreed that those whose parents earn an annual salary of not more than Z$50 000 get a 100% support rate, while those with parents in between Z$ 50 000-$ 100 000 income bracket get 50% with the last category of those whose parents earn above $100 000 getting a 25% support rate. However a number of students whose parents qualify for the first criteria, were unjustifiably not offered the amount of their criteria.according to the students complaints. In a document delivered to the minister of Higher Education's office at the time of the demonstration, the students body demanded that the ministry either reconsider the decision or implement one of three alternatives. *The first condition was that the government had to assume responsibility for assisting those unable topay the 50%. *Secondly, the government should leave the University institution to decide who qualifies for sponsorship or not. The University knowswhere its students come from. *Thirdly, they asked the ministry to revert to the old 100% system pending the inability to meet the above two requirements. Students would be obliged to pay back the funds upon completion of their studies. "The decision by our government to reduce funding was so dictatorial because students or their parents were not consulted, therefore we regard the policy illegitimate. And as long as our demands are not met we are not guaranteeing peace at this university," declared Sikhala, the University of Zimbabwes' student union leader, (by implication therefore also the Zimbabwe National Student Union's mouth piece). Even at this present moment, there is no dialogue
between students and the arrogant Ministry of Higher
Education, The ministry has remained adamant in its
stance, securely locking doors for further negotiations.
Sikhala appealed to the ministry to open doors for talks
because they do not want to stand by helplessly
aseducation becomes a luxury for the poor. In an appeal copied to the Means Test Committee ,dated the 11th of July, Zulu Blessing, whose parents are no longer employed and are old pensioners, was granted a mere 0.5 %loan of the extra 50% sponsorship amounting to only $4 300. He did however qualify for the first category and badly needs full financial help. Another student, Izaya Prosper, an adopted son (after both of his parents died in the liberation struggle), was also given 0.5 of the total sponsorship, and can not meet the remainder. His guardian can not help him any longer. Izaya and Blessing are just but examples of the 80% or so of the student body who are poor and in need of financial independence. University education is vitally essential to any country, more so for Africa which still has relatively very few graduants and perennially relies on expatriate skilled manpower for its human resource base. Restricted funding is not Zimbabwe's problem alone but one of the greatest problems facing students in much of Africa. Analysts warn that education is fast becoming elitist, and the preserve of the rich.
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