Source: Over 1 300 tertiary students benefit from ‘work-for-fees’ programme – herald
Trust Freddy
Herald Correspondent
MORE than 1 300 tertiary education students countrywide are benefiting from the Government’s ‘work-for-fees’ initiative, with the University of Zimbabwe (UZ) accounting for over 450 beneficiaries, as higher education institutions move to cushion underprivileged learners from financial exclusion.
The latest figures come as State universities and polytechnics move to scale up the safety-net programme, which was launched as a pilot project in 2019 by the Ministry of Higher and Tertiary Education.
The initiative allows indigent students to clear their tuition backlogs by working within their respective universities and colleges.
Speaking on the operational layout at the country’s prime institution, UZ Vice-Chancellor Professor Paul Mapfumo revealed that the facility is a targeted intervention reserved strictly for the genuinely underprivileged.
“When we started it at the University of Zimbabwe, we coined it the Work Study Programme,” Prof Mapfumo said.
“Our criteria is really to look for students that are underprivileged — students that have circumstances that would exclude them from continuing with their education.”
To maintain transparency, Prof Mapfumo said the university utilises a multi-layered screening process before enrolling any student into the programme.
“This is not a scholarship,” he said. “We have clear protocols for applications. It is not just about applying,” he said.
“The criteria we use are evaluated by the Student Affairs Division under the Registrar’s Office. We also receive reports from the academic faculties. These reports help us identify needy students.”
The evaluation desk also reviews hardship submissions forwarded by external stakeholders.
“We also accept submissions from guardians, parents, and senior leaders in society and the Government,” he said.
“Policymakers also identify needy cases and submit them for our evaluation.”
This latest development comes at a time when the Tertiary Education Service Council (TESC) is drafting a unified policy framework to standardise the recruitment and management of vulnerable students across all state colleges and polytechnics.
TESC Secretary, Dr Eng Tafadzwa Mudondo, revealed that over 465 students are benefiting from the programme across the various polytechnics and teachers’ colleges governed by the organisation.
However, he said, while individual institutions currently use their own internal methods to handle needy students, a unified system is being finalised to streamline nationwide operations.
“What we are doing is that we are waiting on a policy to harmonise the recruitment of the students who have challenges in terms of payment of fees,” Dr Eng Mudondo said.
“So what we have done is that each institution currently has its own modus operandi as a parent, but we are harmonising it.”
Dr Eng Mudondo, the former principal of Harare Polytechnic, explained that institutions usually identify struggling students during the second semester of the academic year when financial strain peaks.
“As the former principal of Harare Polytechnic, we identified students in need, especially during the second semester,” he said.
“That is when we would identify some of the struggling students. For those students, we offered on-campus work such as business tasks and general duties.
“We would tell them to come and work after school, then direct whatever remuneration they earned toward their fees.”
Currently, 465 students are benefiting from the program across the various polytechnics and teachers’ colleges governed by TESC.
Dr Eng Mudondo, however, lamented that student pride remains a major hurdle to maximum enrollment.
“The challenge which we have is that some students are not forthcoming in terms of ensuring that they enrol. Some don’t want to work for their fees,” he said.
The total national beneficiary count has now surpassed the 1 300 mark, driven by UZ’s 450 students, an intake of more than 300 students at the Midlands State University (MSU) as of last year and the 465 learners attached to TESC colleges.
Several other state universities countrywide are currently running the same program within their campuses.
While institutional structures are fully operational at these universities, their latest deployment statistics are yet to be availed.
Authorities continue to urge struggling students to declare their financial status to campus administration rather than shying away from seeking help.
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