Grants, payouts or War!!!
The efforts by the finance minister to ease the funding crisis in the higher and tertiary education and address the joint plight of the struggling students and guardians are quiet commendable and come at time when the majority of students are reeling under multiple scorching challenges prime being the torturous fees regime at institutions of higher learning . Announcing the 2012 national budget statement, Hon Tendai Laxton Biti , a former student and student leader himself, allocated USD25 million towards the grant system(payouts) with Barclays and ZB banks availing USD20 million and USD10 million respectively for the students loan facility, which also presents a challenge to other players in the corporate world to play their part in revamping our education system as it is their primary source of human capital. Grants will go a long way in addressing most challenges as they emanate from funding and finance deficits and inadequacies.
Disturbing however is the non-repentant reluctance of the ministry charged with the actualization, the wrapping and delivering of this Christmas present, the ministry of higher and tertiary education which has failed to avail for access the 15 million allocated in the previous budget towards the grant system, grudgingly holding on to the cadetshit scheme- which is extremely and unimaginably partisan with suicidal strings attached to it. It is with this background that the students would like to unequivocally caution the ministry to desist from unnecessary gambling with young people’s careers and urgently avail these funds for accessibility to students. It is our greatest demand and untradeable hope that these funds are ready for easy access as early as 7 January 2012 when the first tertiary institution opens its doors for the new semester, failure of which is tantamount to provocation and declaration of war against us, of which they should be rest assured we will fight to the end – all our eyes and arrows are on Mudenge .
USD52.7 million has been allocated towards infrastructure development at higher and tertiary education institutions with Bulawayo getting an elephant share, USD 7,7 million going towards the construction of the faculty of Agriculture at Lupane State University, and 7.5 million towards the completion of the NUST central library where construction had been paused for close to a decade. We demand that the allocation towards infrastructure development be timeously utilized to easy the accommodation problems at the various institution as the current status is far from being acceptable, NUST halls can only accommodate 104 students out of an enrollment of over 7000, UZ ones taking 4287 out of over 10000 and MSU taking 200 out of over 9000 students. The perennial tendencies by various university and college authorities to embezzle monies meant for such progressive project is this time under serious check and they should also be rest assured of war, protracted if they so wish.
We also demand that the plight of female students, who have several special needs be urgently addressed as inadequacies expose them to unfortunate vulnerabilities most of which have far reaching and irreversible consequences- disease, sexual abuse, exploitation among others. These young women should also benefit directly or indirectly from funds such as the Women’s fund over and above a gender sensitive grants disbursement and loan accessibility framework.
Commendable is also the allocation of USD 2million manpower development fund and USD 20 million for the Jobs Fund, which is also a progressive scheme as far as skills acquisition and human development is concerned-.
The minister is also making great efforts to abide by the Dakar framework of 2000 for action on Education for all which requires that government allocates 12% of the total government expenditure to education, with his budget allocation standing at 23% in 2011 and 25% estimate in 2012, that is USD1,003.2 million (i.e. slightly over a billion), which should inspire all the other parties, state and non state to conduct themselves in such manners that aid the actualization and realization of several charters and declarations: the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights Article 17: Every individual shall have the right to education; The Charter of the United Nations and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights Article 26: (1) Everyone has the right to education. Education shall be free, at least in the elementary and fundamental stages. Elementary education shall be compulsory. Technical and professional education shall be made generally available and higher education shall be equally accessible to all on the basis of merit; The African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child Article (11) 3.(c) that higher education be made accessible to all on the basis of capacity and ability by every appropriate means and (e) that special measures be taken in respect of female, gifted and disadvantaged children, to ensure equal access to education for all sections of the community, among other instruments. We also demand the constitutionalisation of the right to education, the revolutionarisation of the university acts and the absolute repeal of the draconic ordinance 30, posa etc which are evil blockades to the enjoyment of critical academic freedoms in this modern world where democratization struggles are widespread .
The issue of prioritization remains a gray area in this country which is cursed with some leaders who have protracted histories of self enrichment and plunder, corruption, non-empathetic misappropriation of public resources. Of great concern is the high traveling expenditure for government with 1,2% of the budget between January and September being swallowed by globetrotting. It is of great concern that some people in government, especially our chancellor who enjoys unnecessary globetrotting and we would like to urge him to be patriotic enough to enjoy being home. The unnecessary and exorbitant expenditure in sending a handful young people to foreign institutions under the guise of “presidential scholarship” at the expense thousands sons and daughters of peasantified poverty stricken citizens should cease forthwith. Giving first preference to our own institutions would raise them to standards beyond most of these envied institutions; just imagine a completely constructed NUST….and Bona being capped there.
We will courageously take justifiable persuasive actions in pursuit of amicable addressing of our justified demands. It is not only that we can, but we will and we will.
Cde Joram Chikwadze is Zinasu Byo Chairman
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