On Tuesday February 3rd, hundreds of students from the University of Zimbabwe in Harare and Midlands State University in Gweru took to the streets in protest against the ‘Dollarization of Education’. Students marched outside the Vice-Chancellor’s office on the UZ campus, where armed riot police intervened with dogs and tear gas, arresting sixty protesters and injuring at least five. Their demands seem relatively simple: that they be able to pay their university fees in their own currency.
On Tuesday February 3rd, hundreds of students from the University of Zimbabwe in Harare and Midlands State University in Gweru took to the streets in protest against the ‘Dollarization of Education’. Students marched outside the Vice-Chancellor’s office on the UZ campus, where armed riot police intervened with dogs and tear gas, arresting sixty protesters and injuring at least five. Their demands seem relatively simple: that they be able to pay their university fees in their own currency.
Since January 1st, old Zimbabwean dollars have not been legal tender. This is the culmination of an official directive by the Zimbabwean government, released in August 2008, to re-denominate the currency so that 10 000 000 000 old Zimbabwean dollars(ZWD) equals 1 new ZWD. However, no new currency has yet been issued so Zimbabweans are still paid in old ZWD and currently, one ZWD is only worth 0.04 U.S Dollars.
This has presented problems for third level students who were told at the start of January, via a communication on a university notice board, that in order to sit their exams, they would have to pay a fee of US$400. Furthermore, they would be required to pay upwards of US$1000 to return to college for the second term. Midlands State University has also advised first year students that fees paid last year are no longer legitimate and that they will be required to pay the revised fees in full.
The move has been described as ‘academic genocide’ by the Zimbabwe National Students Union(ZINASU). The country is currently in the midst of an economic catastrophe with reports of unemployment reaching 90%. The situation has been exacerbated by the ruling government’s refusal to accept its own currency. All official monetary transactions, including university fees, are required to be paid in foreign currency – typically US Dollars. Along with the sharp increase in fees, students are now required to fund their education with a currency which neither they nor their parents, are paid in. According to Clever Bere, President of the ZINASU, the Union has launched the National Campaign Against Dollarization of Education(NACADEZ), so that Zimbabwe can avoid ‘a situation where we are forced to pay for our studies in United States Dollars when most of our parents are not getting that as salaries’. The union is afraid ‘dollarization’ will make education a pursuit of the wealthy as the exorbitant fees are well out of reach for much of Zimbabwe’s population.
It would seem that the only option for young Zimbabweans seeking tertiary education would be to go abroad. This is generally the preferred course for children of senior Zanu-PF members – President Mugabe’s daughter is a student at the University of Hong Kong. Other Zimbabweans have been availing of scholarships in neighboring African countries. However, this number seems likely to dwindle as the government has introduced new prices for passports, the required document for obtaining a student visa. Previously, the listed price for a passport was approximately US$200, a difficult but not insurmountable sum. But this fee ha risen without warning to US$670 and applicants are now required to pay a further US$20 just for the application form. This has caused massive problems for students such as Golden Gutu, who is unable to pay for a passport and therefore cannot be issued a student visa. Gutu, a recipient of a scholarship to the University of South Africa, claims that due to the price increase, he is only able to procure a temporary passport which means he will not be allowed study in South Africa.
