Crisis on Campus: Why Zimbabwe Must Immediately Introduce Student Grants and Stipends

By Hector Madzima

HARARE, ZIMBABWE – A crisis is silently unfolding on the campuses of our nation’s universities and polytechnics. Our brightest young minds, the future doctors, engineers, and innovators of Zimbabwe, are being crippled not by the rigor of their studies, but by the crushing weight of poverty.

It is a national disgrace that students are forced to choose between attending a lecture and affording a meal. This financial strain is not just a personal tragedy for individual students and their struggling families; it is an active threat to the quality of our higher education system and the long-term economic prospects of the country.

The solution is clear and historically proven: the government must immediately reinstate a comprehensive system of student grants and maintenance stipends.

The Unbearable Burden on Students and Parents

The current cost-sharing model for higher education has failed the majority of Zimbabwean families. University fees, which often require payment in scarce foreign currency or their volatile local equivalent, are prohibitive for parents already battling inflation and unemployment.

 * Fees vs. Food: Many students are compelled to take up casual, often exploitative, employment simply to afford basic sustenance and transportation, diverting their precious time and energy away from their studies.

 * Academic Impact: The stress of subsistence living leads to missed lectures, deferrals, and, ultimately, higher dropout rates. A student constantly worried about their next meal cannot focus on their final-year project. This erosion of academic focus directly compromises the quality of the graduates we are producing.

 * Widening Inequality: The absence of robust financial aid creates an elite-driven education system, ensuring that only those from wealthy backgrounds can afford to attend and thrive, regardless of academic merit. This fundamentally betrays the nation’s post-independence commitment to democratizing education.

A Look Back at a Broken Promise

Zimbabwe’s early post-independence era featured a generous student funding model that included both grants and loans, aimed at promoting equitable access to higher education. Unfortunately, this system was dismantled primarily due to the severe economic crisis and, critically, the widespread failure of previous beneficiaries to repay their loans.

It is an inescapable truth that members of the current political elite—including many of their peers from the “Biti generation” (a reference to the cohort of students who attended university during the height of the grant/loan system)—benefited immensely from these State funds. The failure to enforce loan repayments from this privileged group created a multi-million-dollar hole that was a significant factor in the collapse of the scheme.

The subsequent introduction of limited alternatives, like the Cadetship Support System, has proven inadequate, often covering only a fraction of the total costs and being inconsistently administered.

It is a shame and a moral failure that the financial irresponsibility of a previous generation, many of whom now hold positions of power, has led to the current, devastating withdrawal of support for today’s students. Their failure to repay should not be used as an excuse to perpetually punish an entirely new generation of deserving learners.

The Path to Restoration: A Two-Pronged Approach

The government must act decisively to correct this historical injustice and invest in the nation’s future:

 * Immediate Reinstatement of Non-Repayable Grants: A fixed, needs-based grant must be provided to cover a significant portion of tuition fees and a separate, manageable stipend to cover essential upkeep like accommodation and food. This cushions the most vulnerable students and allows them to focus solely on education.

 * Establishment of a Sustainable, Enforceable Loan Scheme: Any new loan component must be implemented with robust and non-partisan enforcement mechanisms. Repayment must be tied to employment, with clear legal and financial penalties for default, ensuring the scheme is perpetually self-sustaining and not dependent on the whims of the national Treasury.

Investing in our students is not a handout; it is the most critical investment a country can make in its human capital. The government has a moral and economic duty to ensure that poverty is not a barrier to intellectual excellence. Let us restore the dignity and promise of a Zimbabwean education.