University of Zimbabwe Closes Following Protests
On Tuesday 3rd February the University of Zimbabwe was officially closed following a series of demonstrations by students and teachers about university fees and salaries. Seventy five students were reportedly arrested during ‘The National Campaign against Dollarization in Zimbabwe’.
According to University World News, the demonstrations leading to the University closure followed a government decision to collect school fees in US dollars. This has left students facing extortionate fees of $1800 a semester and as a result the university fears a high drop-out rate. The government has also refused to give lecturers a modest salary that matches the cost of living in Zimbabwe. Standards of education at the University of Zimbabwe have not improved and sanitary conditions within the university buildings remain poor.
The Zimbabwe National Students Union (ZINASU) claim that security guards and riot police officers came down hard on the demonstrators, resulting in various arrests, injuries and eventually the closing of the University.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION:
The decision by the government to ‘dollarize’ the higher education system in Zimbabwe, is a result of the collapse of the Zimbabwean Dollar. According to University World News, some teachers were paid 90 trillion Zimbabwean Dollars at the beginning of this year- an amount that could not even buy them two loaves of bread. Many can no longer support their families. Recent promises made by the new Government of National Unity, formed by Mugabe and his former opponent Morgan Tsvangirai, offer to temporarily pay civil servants $100 to get Zimbabwe to work again.
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Alert - Zimbabwe
| Date: | 09 March 2009 |
| Source: | University World News |
| Classification: | Media Article |
| Violation: | University Closure |
| Affected Persons: | University of Zimbabwe, Lecturers and Students |
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