Lupane State University (LSU) has refused to reduce recently increased fees during a meeting with the Student Executive Council (SEC) held in Bulawayo on 01 September 2023.
In a statement, Donald Ndlovu, a spokesperson for the students, said the LSU administration declined the request to reconsider the tuition fees and levies. He said:
Revolutionary greeting to the students, it is with heavy heart to inform you of the burning issue raised by students concerning high tuition fees as the administration turned down the application to review tuition fee and levies.
Based on the updated LSU fees structure, students are now required to pay a total of US$401, which includes accommodation, as well as up to ZWL$ 2 million.
This is in contrast to the previous semester’s fees, which averaged ZWL$ 427,800, including accommodation.
Ndlovu said the LSU administration has not backed down on the current hiked fees but will allow students to pay fees in installments. He said:
No adjustments were made to the total fees however SEC has managed to convince the administration that students will pay 40% of the fees to attend lectures and then pay 20% to be allowed in the examination room.
Then the last 40% is to be paid on the last section of modularisation.
This was not a fee revision meeting but a consultation meeting.
All students are advised to keep on united as we find a solution for a way forward.
Students from other State universities such as the Zimbabwe Open University (ZOU) and the University of Zimbabwe (UZ) have also expressed dismay over a spate of tuition and accommodation fee hikes.
Source Pindula
