The Zimbabwe Coalition on Debt and Development (ZIMCODD), Zimbabwe National Students Union (ZINASU), and Female Students Network Trust (FSNT) have urged the government to take action against higher education institutions requiring tuition and accommodation payments solely in US dollars (USD).
This practice stands in direct violation of Zimbabwe’s law, which allows payments in both local and foreign currency.
These three organisations argue that prioritising foreign currency over the Zimbabwean dollar (ZWL) creates a significant financial burden for students and their families, especially those unemployed or earning the “depreciating ZWL.”
While the Ministry of Higher and Tertiary Education, Innovation, Science and Technology Development did grant universities and colleges permission to peg tuition fees in USD last August, demanding foreign currency remains a “concrete violation” of the Exchange Control Act (Chapter 22:05 of the Finance Act), which recognizes the ZWL as legal tender.
ZIMCODD, ZINASU, and FSNT specifically named institutions like Bulawayo Polytechnic, Great Zimbabwe University, Harare Polytechnic, National University of Science and Technology (NUST), and Midlands State University (MSU) as offenders demanding a portion of fees in USD.
“This policy blatantly contradicts the Ministry of Higher and Tertiary Education, Innovation, Science and Technology Development’s directive allowing local currency at the prevailing interbank rate,” the organisations stated in a joint statement.
“We further note with great concern, the violation of students’ rights at Belvedere Technical Teachers College, where some students were denied accommodation and informed that it was only available for those who paid fees in USD.”
It also came to light that students at Belvedere Teachers College were told by the Dean to top up a fee of US$233 as the fees they paid is no longer sufficient
“Subsequently, those who failed to provide the required top up were made to sleep on the floor in the common rooms,” claimed the organisations.
At MSU, students who also chose to settle the balance of their fees in local currency were asked to pay an additional 10 percent of the amount they had settled in local currency, ZIMCODD, ZINASU and FSNT noted.
“We acknowledge and fully commend the government’s directive regarding school fees and levies which censured institutions that have been flaunting laid down school governance procedures. To this end, we condemn the deliberate undermining of Public Finance Management laws and policies by institutions of higher learning,” said the organisations.
The organisations reiterated that education is a right enshrined in sections 27 and 75 of the Constitution and should never be commodified. They urged all institutions to adhere to the Ministerial directive and comply with the country’s fiscal policies.
