ZANASU BLASTS MPS FOR SHOOTING MOTION ON LOAN SCHEME FOR PRIVATE UNIVERSITIES

THE United Party for National Development (UPND) Members of Parliament (MPs) should stop using the Patriotic Front (PF) as reference for making their decisions but instead prioritise the interest of Zambians because they are the ones in Government, Zambia National Students Union (ZANASU) secretary general Mambwe Bwalya has said.

Mr Bwalya said ZANASU was not happy that the UPND MPs decided to shoot down a private member’s motion that was meant to assist students in private universities by including them on the government’s student loan scheme.

Mr Bwalya said the union was unhappy that the MPs from the ruling party did not want students from private universities to benefit from Government’s social programmes yet some of those students were coming from family that were underprivileged.

He said it was Government’s responsibility to educate its citizenry and ensure equity amongst all Zambians through education for the country’s sustainable development.

He disclosed that ZANASU is on record of having championed discussions between the government and other stakeholders such as Higher Education Loans and Scholarship Board (HELBS) on issues of access to education and funding for education in private universities.

“We challenge all MPs both from the ruling and opposition to debate objectively without politicizing matters of national interest and also issues effecting young people in private universities. ”Meanwhile, Mr Bwalya has said ZANASU was happy by the government’s decision to increase the allocation for education from 10 percent in 2022 to about 13 percent of the total national budget in 2023.

He said the move pointed to that fact that government was committed to support the education sector.