The Zimbabwe National Students Union (ZINASU) has written to the Ministry of Higher and Tertiary Education, Innovation, Science and Technology Development seeking an end to the discrimination against students who are yet to receive their Covid-19 vaccination.
The students body raised this concern after some tertiary institutions turned away unvaccinated students from their premises when classes resumed Monday.
Despite the government saying that vaccination was voluntary, it is fast becoming mandatory in various places such as workplaces and even in the church yet to date 1 619 463 people have been fully vaccinated.
According to the Ministry of Health and Child Care’s daily reporting compiled on August 30, 2021, another 2 552 573 people have received their first jabs.
In a letter to the ministry of higher education, ZINASU Secretary General, Tapiwanashe Chiriga, said there is no law that makes access to education a preserve of vaccinated persons only .
“It has come to our attention that institutions of higher learning are barring students who are yet to be vaccinated from accessing campus premises particularly at Chinhoyi University of Technology on August 30, 2021,” he said.
Chiriga argued everyone had the right to access education as guaranteed in the constitution.
“It should be stated that at the present moment, there is no law that makes access to education the preserve of persons who have been vaccinated. On the contrary we take refuge in the constitution of the republic whose print states clearly a number of fundamental rights that will be violated should this persist.”
“Section 68 of the Constitution, for instance, requires all administrative conduct to be lawful , reasonable and substantially fair. We thus find measures taken by institutions of higher learning to be drastic, unfair. We thus find measures taken by institutions of higher learning to be drastic, unfair and illegal.”
The ZINASU secretary general said the students body has also been at the forefront in encouraging citizens and students to be vaccinated.
“We also appreciate the government’s efforts in making sure the vaccination is not compulsory. We equally would like to believe based on available data the government is yet to acquire enough vaccines to have the entire population vaccinated by now. The right to access education cannot be abrogated on the basis of one’s speed to access vaccines,” Chiriga noted.
Chiriga also reiterated ZINASU’s desire to help encourage fellow compatriots to be vaccinated in line with the fight against Covid-19 yet did not support turning away unvaccinated students
“We look forward to your intervention at the earliest possibility to allow every students access to education without discrimination. For and on behalf of the Zimbabwe National Students Union,” he said.
Meanwhile, the government said already 13 million doses out of the 20 million required in order to achieve herd immunity of 10 million people.
