The government says fees at local tertiary institutions were lower compared to their regional counterparts, despite the recent tuition fee hike by over 450%.
Leader of government business in Parliament and Justice Minister, Ziyambi Ziyambi, Wednesday told legislators that the hike was justifiable considering that tertiary education fees had not been increased for almost two years when inflation was rising.
Ziyambi was responding to Magwegwe MP, Anele Ndebele who had raised concern about the increase of tuition fees by institutions, about a fortnight ago.
Ndebele asked:
State university fees have gone up 450% with the ministry’s approval, which is really insensitive. I want to check with the leader of government business if there is a deliberate policy thrust by our government to cushion the majority poor, who cannot afford to finance higher education because it must not be a preserve for the rich?
In response, Ziyambi said:
State university fees have not been increased for over one and half years. Honourable Members are quite alive that a lot has happened within that particular period. If you compare when the fees were pegged at the current structure that has been reviewed and the cost of living that was there including salaries, you will realise that there was a need for a review to be done.
When you compare the fees with what is obtaining in the region, we are the cheapest. Be that as it may, our State universities have come up with programmes to ensure that our students are cushioned in terms of having payment plans, access to loans and other support services that can be given.
When President Mnangagwa made similar remarks about a fortnight ago, critics said the government must not compare fees with those of institutions in the region considering that there is a huge variance between salaries of local workers compared to their colleagues in the region.