On the Fee Hike

It is another Friday.

I have been trying to run away from commenting on the issue of the fees hike, but I think it is high time I rolled with the flow. Arrests are being made, the social media is awash with the #FeesMustFall campaign, one college has been closed and pretty much the whole nation (except for the Kamuzu Palace) has been shaken.

Little recap for those who are pretending not to know what is going on in Malawi: fees have been raised to K400, 000.00 per year in the public universities. There is an outcry against the hike from students against the hike, with the main argument being that the hike will compromise access to higher education. On the other hand, the ones who are for the hike are pointing out that there hike is a need if we are to maintain and raise standards in our institutions and so far the two sides have not been able to table the issue and reach an agreement. M’mene ndamvera inetu, eti?

I would ideally reserve the answer to this question for the end of the article but I think it is best that I respond right at the beginning. The big question most had when they saw an article on fees was probably that of which side I am on, of the two mentioned. Personally I think both are right (or wrong) which makes me think that it is much easier to reach a compromise because from where I stand, what the two sides are looking for should be the same (in a way); little increase in the fees to help raise the standards of higher education while keeping the maximum sustainable number of eligible students in college.

If we are to look at the decision by the university council to hike the fees to $560 per year (ili cha pamenepo tikaipanga convert mma dollars, eti?) I think it is justified, in a way. The cost of living is high and so is the cost of running a university. If we soberly look at the money the university spends per student in a year and the fees from the same, we will all realize that the hike is justified in a way. On the other hand, there is a number of problems, the first one being that the upward adjustment of the fees was long overdue which has forced the university to get into the “arrears mode” and effect a cumulative hike with all those little missed hikes in mind. Now that is a very big problem for obvious reasons.

The other big problem with decision from the university council’s decision to hike the fees by whatever percentage is that the council has decided to effect the hike in one stroke. The combination of the words “bad” and “idea” was in fact invented for such type of decisions. I was recently debating with one Chanco student who asked me if I would have hiked the fees to that margin if I was the one responsible and my answer was an outright NO! I personally think that an upward adjustment of fees of that margin should be a process and not an event as is the case at the moment.

The rest of us who are against the unreasonable fee hike have an argument that needs no explanation; not many will manage to pay that amount and a lot may end up being denied their right to higher education by circumstances. Zoona izizi.

So…

We have a situation. It is interesting to see what the people of the warm heart of Africa have resorted to as solutions. Students have unsurprisingly turned to demonstrations; some nicely timed and others not. The University council has stood it’s ground that the fees will not fall and the Chancellor (drum roll) has decided that the issue is too trivial for his comment.

To me, this leaves me with more questions than answers. Looking at the demonstrations, I wonder as to how effective they will be now that Chancellor College has been closed following the demonstrations and that the Polytechnic is on holiday. Kamuzu College of Nursing held their demonstrations and delivered a petition which is probably still sitting somewhere gathering dust in a place far from the intended destination. The College of Medicine is still on holiday and His Excellency Francis Makiya has written his subjects that they should not report to school come the opening date in the light of the hike. I am told the whole university student community now has eyes on COM and is counting on the doctors, physios, lab scientists and pharmacists to catalyze the fall of the fees. I am yet to be schooled on how.

Someone is probably asking as to what solutions the all-knowing Richie will bring forward today. Honestly, I do not think I have any meaningful contribution to this. This is pretty much beyond my pay grade so if people think that the fees must fall hash tag will help drop the fees, we will help them post it. If people think that demonstrating will help make the fees respect the rules of gravity, let them do it peacefully. My only big piece of advice is that we all need to be thinking of what we will do if the authorities (which have no good track record of listening, anyway) decide to stand their ground and refuse to “make the fees fall”. This is pretty important because that is a possibility.

How I wish I was in a position where I could make dialogue between the two sides a possibility! How I wish I was on the UNIMA council in which case I would have reasoned with my fellows and convinced them that what we needed was a gradual upward adjustment over the years and not a one-time unreasonable hike. On the brighter side, I will be a parent at some point and knowing what the students in our public universities are going through, I will save and invest for my child’s education from as early as I can.

To sign out, I think the hike though necessary is unreasonable and needs revision. Allow me to disagree with those who are saying that the main problem is that the fees are too high. The main problem is not that the fees are too high, but rather that we are broke and are unable to afford the fees. Probably high time the Government and everyone else began to think outside the box of ways of financing higher education. That is not a solution to the current problem, but something to think about for some of us who like me think of having six children in the future.

FEES MUST BE ADJUSTED!