The failure by ED to address the economic meltdown of Zimbabwe has left the life of a student miserable and horrendous. There is no doubt that the economic teething troubles are negatively impacting our studies.
We are facing high accommodation costs while our parents’ salaries remain meager and useless against the hyperinflation in the country. It is clear that the overall pass rate is going to drop due to power cuts which also make it impossible to access information on the internet.
In addition, accessibility to the internet is now hard due to the ever increasing costs of data and Wi-Fi.
Some students stay far from campus and commuting is now difficult due to high transport costs following fuel hikes. The few zupco buses available in a few colleges cannot meet the number of students to be ferried. Most students can no longer afford descend meals at campuses.
Due to all these hardships, education which is supposed to be a right and the government’s responsibility for it to be accessible is now difficult to acquire! In short, Education in Zimbabwe is now meant for the elite. The education itself has become meaningless as the streets of Zimbabwe are flooded with jobless graduates engaging in all sorts of shameless activities !!!
We also note with concern the ban of NUST demonstration which left some student leaders illegally arrested. The arrested comrades include Joseph Nyamayaro who is in the src board, Tanaka Charamba, Ruramai Sithole, Peace Takudzwa, Daniel Miracle and many more. NUST students had planned their demonstration following strike by lecturers who are complaining about poor salaries and poor working conditions.
Education and peaceful demonstrations are rights and it is sad that the two are being extremely violated by the government itself.
The ban of NUST demonstration and the arrest of students as well as abductions of members of the opposition and civic societies is a flawless indication that ED has no solutions to the economic decay in the country.
As students, our message to ED is clear. We are not going to bear this anymore. ED should address the illegitimate crisis in the country which he is absolutely not willing to do. It’s time to take the legal action against ED or else we fold our hands watching our future being thrown into a cesspool.
We are very much aware that the government is trying to instill fear in its citizens through a series of abductions of those who raise their genuine concerns for the government to address. However, that is not going to deter us from demanding the government to address the economic issues affecting students.
We are demanding that the president should solve the issue of legitimacy crisis in Zimbabwe. As students, our message to ED is clear!!! We are giving him an ultimatum and we are already awake from our slumber.
MDC Students Council Secretary
