Students at the Reformed Church University (RCU) have expressed concern over the increase in tuition fees. According to notices, seen by Pindula News, tuition fees for block students was reviewed to strictly US$$350.
Students who spoke to Pindula News said they are civil servants and, therefore, cannot afford to pay fee in United States dollars as they are paid salaries in the local currency.
They said they tried to engage authorities but their request to scrap the USD-denominated fees was ignored.
The students also said the institution pegged its fees above the official bank exchange rates in violation of legislation by the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ).
Explainer:
- The Zimbabwean economy is inflationary. Businesses and even government institutions have been raising prices for their commodities to remain afloat.
- The inflation has also eroded workers’ salaries and they have in the last two years been calling upon the government to restore the USD-denominated salaries they were getting prior to October 2018.
- Authorities have adopted a cocktail of measures to contain inflation. The measures, including the RBZ foreign currency auction, had limited success as inflation continues to rise.
- Analysts and the opposition recommend the adoption of the United States dollar or a multicurrency system (dollarising) as was the case between 2009 and 2019. Authorities are reluctant to take that move saying the economy cannot be revived while the government is using foreign currency.