EDITOR - Pre and early post independence tertiary education was made accessible on the basis of merit, but 26 years later students were unable to pay. Bearing this in mind, who is born free between students of today and those of yesteryears? The government willy-nilly introduced the cadetship scheme to compensate for its evils, despite the fact that it is serving no purpose. We are fed up by these cosmetic policies which do not exist in reality, only for government officials year end reporting.
Petitions have been submitted to the government by several students union bodies but not a single issue has been addressed. Mudenge does not take us sincerely, therefore amounting to a declaration of war against students by the government. Student teachers are not being paid whilst studying just like student nurses on training. Is there are superior group of students than the other in the eyes of our government? It is unfair since the majority will be employed in the civil service. Is this the sovereignty and independence they preach about?
Our dilemmas are too much to bear, we find ourselves in a war zone despite 29 years of independence. There is unwillingness on the part of the GNU to make sure that the students welfare is taken care of. The disgruntled students of the sovereign Zimbabwe can not tolerate these diabolical tendencies by the government of neglecting its responsibilities. Continuous negligence on the part of the government and college authorities will amount to nothing less than anarchy.
We shall not tolerate rhetoric of these crocodile liberators and Swiss bank socialists at the expense of our education and future. The GNU was not created for the purpose of quarrelling, but to provide economic improvement to the nation. How can the economy develop when capable manpower is being lost for the simple reason that students cannot pay? Cadetship is wrongly misplaced; it should not apply to tertiary students but those in the military. It is a pity that the government is failing to recognize the reason why our fathers and forefathers fought the Second Chimurenga and why for the past ten years we have been yearning for change.
Students from all the four corners of the country have spoken loud on the issue of these exorbitant fees, the recognition of academic freedoms, qualified lecturers, grants and loans among other things however the voices fell on deaf ears. We have used diplomacy for too long on people who perhaps do not understand it. Students of Zimbabwe are very constructive but should not be hard-pressed in performing acts of self-defence as we will be defending ourselves from the violence that has been instituted upon us by the government. Vice chancellors and principals should view us as adults not as primitive fauna. – GRANT T TABVUREI, by e-mail
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