The Ministry of Education (MoE) has turned down university students’ plea for the temporary suspension of the recently announced tuition fees’ hike.
Earlier last month, Public University Students’ Representative Council (SRC) presidents met in Blantyre to brainstorm on the issue of fees’ hike and then engaged Ministry of Education officials on Monday.
The students argued their case, stating that the hike was ill-timed and unreasonable, such that it had to be temporarily suspended pending further consultations.
“We underscored the absence of adequate consultations with key stakeholders, notably the Loans Board, prior to [making] the ‘unilateral decision’ to implement this substantial fee increase,” the students’ communique, which they released after the meeting, reads.
They also drew attention to what they called “the excessively high percentage increase” in fees, which, they argued, was not in the best interest of the majority of financially disadvantaged students.
“The Loans Board, [which is] responsible for disbursing student loans, had already granted loans before the fee hike and, during the meeting, indicated that it lacks the necessary funds to address the shortfalls resulting from the fee increase,” the communique reads.
But Education Minister Madalitso Kambauwa- Wirima told the students that there will be no reduction of tuition fees; neither will there be suspension of the same.
Earlier, Unima Students Representative Council President Humble Bondo said if the students would not succeed with their intention, they would collectively strategise and map the way forward once they reconvene on campus on the 19th of this month.
On July 25 2023, a statement from University of Malawi management announced an increase in tuition fees for both undergraduate and mature students. Other universities, notably Malawi University of Business and Applied Sciences, Kamuzu University of Health Sciences, Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Malawi University of Science and Technology and Mzuzu University followed suit.
The tuition fee in public universities in the country was pegged at K650,000 or more per academic year.
