Institutions forced to cut tuition fees

THE Ministry of Higher and Tertiary Education, Science and Technology Development will conduct an audit to establish if there are institutions of higher learning that have not adhered to a Government directive to slash fees for students on attachment by 40 percent.

Early this year, the Government announced that universities and other higher learning institutions reduce fees for students on attachment. However, there have been reports that some universities and colleges were still to abide by the directive.

In an interview, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry Dr Desire Sibanda said they have received complaints from students from institutions that have not yet complied with the policy. He, however, declined to name the institutions.

“We are very serious about that, if an institution has not slashed the tuition fee by 40 percent we might have to take action. There are students on attachment that made complaints that some institutions have not yet done that. As we open for the 2018 semester/ term all institutions that had not adhered to this policy are mandated to do so with immediate effect. We will conduct a proper audit so as to really look into the books to see which institution has not slashed by 40 percent, the reason being that we want to promote industrial attachment, it is so important as to Sustainable Development Goal 4(SDG 4) in reducing the cost of education.”

Dr Sibanda also praised universities that have already implemented the directive and said that was a sign that such institutions took the issue of industrial attachment seriously.

“The ministry would like to express its gratitude to all institutions that have been able to implement this policy Circular No.2 of 2018 that enables the ministry to promote industrial and practical teaching practices. The ministry is committed to promoting quality education in line with the Sustainable Development Goal 4(SDG 4) vision 2030,” he said.

@MoyoOlivet