wfn.org | Zimbabwe's economic woes affect Africa University's fee system

[NewsDesk <NewsDesk@UMCOM.UMC.ORG>]

May 4, 1999 News media contact: Linda Green*(615)742-5470*Nashville, Tenn.
10-31 -71B{245}

By United Methodist News Service

The devaluation of the Zimbabwean dollar has forced Africa University
officials to adjust the school's formula for setting student fees.

However, tuition at the school will continue to equal US$3,500, as it has
since 1996.

Due to the exchange rate, which is US$1 to Z$37-$40, university students
will pay Z$54,300 in tuition for the 1999-2000 academic year. For the
current year, they paid Z$52,000.
 
The difference between last year's fees and next year's anticipated fee led
50 to 100 of the university's 784 students to protest by staging a boycott
lasting several days. Lectures and other normal activities continued without
interruption, and about 95 percent of registered students are attending
classes and taking year-end finals.

According to Professor Rukudzo Murapa, vice chancellor (president) at Africa
University, "there is no fee increase." What has occurred is an adjustment
of the exchange rate used to calculate the local equivalent in Zimbabwean
dollars, he told United Methodist News Service. "The students perceive this
to be an increase because of the Zimbabwean exchange rate."

About a year ago, in April 1998, the exchange rate was Z$18 to US$1, Murapa
noted. 

Published reports indicate that the value of the Zimbabwean dollar has
fallen at least 65 percent and inflation has risen to 50 percent in the last
18 months.

"This is a result of the negative macro-economic development in the
country," Murapa said.

During an April 7-9 meeting, the university's board of directors approved an
internal exchange rate, along with a reduction in the percentage of the
market U.S.-to-Zimbabwe exchange rate, which was used to determine the fees
in Zimbabwean dollars for next year.  

The board also approved an overall budget of US$4.2 million (Z$139.5
million) for the 1999-2000 academic year. The budget consists of projected
operating expenses of US$3.8 million (Z$127 million) and projected capital
expenditures of US$374,573 (Z$12.3 million). 

The board  approved a 20 percent increase in student enrollment for the
1999-2000 year, which begins in July. The university expects that 140
students will graduate on June 19 and that 288 new students will be enrolled
in July. The net student population will increase by 148. 

"There has been no change in our fees, and  the board of directors at their
recent meeting affirmed there was to be no change. Tuition and other fees
will remain at their set levels," Murapa said.  
 
The student fees at Africa University are less than those of many other
schools in Zimbabwe, according to James Salley, vice chancellor of
institutional advancement.

"Africa University is confronted with the same challenges of any
organization that is trying to do business given the tough macro-economic
situation in the country," Salley said. "We hope it will get better, but
Africa University must collect a reasonable fee from those who can pay. 

"The institution will make every effort to provide assistance through
financial aid and scholarships to students who demonstrate merit or need,"
he said. The university grants scholarships and financial aid based on
income from its US$17 million endowment. Last year, the university made
grants in excess of US$600,000 to students. 

The board also heard directly from student representatives who were
concerned about the 1999-2000 fees. 

The students requested an exchange rate of US$1 to Z$17, according to Andra
Stevens, director of university communications. The board chose to set the
exchange rate at 75 percent of the current market rate, or US$1 to Z$30.

"It is a rate established by the board to demonstrate their sensitivity to
the hardships students are facing not just in Zimbabwe but throughout the
continent," Murapa said. 

The new exchange rate for the calculation of fees paid in Zimbabwe dollars
will become effective in August. The statutory university fees for the
1999-2000 academic year are: tuition, US$1,810 (Z$54,300); medical aid,
U$180 (Z$5,400); student union, US$25 (Z$750). If a student chooses to live
on campus, the fee for the residence halls is US$274 (Z$8,220). The annual
cost of three meals a day in the university cafeteria for a 36-week academic
year is estimated at US$1,211 (Z$36,330).

The boycott and university fees were blown out of proportion by a Zimbabwe
newspaper, the Eastern Star, Murapa said. That paper also reported that some
students called for the removal of Salley and Stevens. 

Salley, the paper said, is to have had "some students ejected from the halls
of residences at the height of the boycott," and Stevens allegedly made
derogatory statements about Zimbabwean students. The article also mentioned
a petition sent by students to various government and educational officials
about Stevens' alleged statement and the perceived fee increase. 

"The article appearing in the April 16 issue of the Eastern Star newspaper
was without foundation," Murapa said. "I've investigated the source of the
petition, and its authenticity is unfounded.

"The allegations against James Salley and Andra Stevens are unfounded," he
continued. "I express full confidence in my staff. My staff comes from all
nations and they are one, and I will protect them all as one. We have a
mission, and we will not be detracted."

Salley was puzzled by the attack. "What keeps me going is the mission of the
institution and the lives it changes daily," Salley said. "Why people would
attack me, I don't know, but this is the work I've been called to in the
church and I respond to it by working." 

The article also alludes to an unstable climate at the university. "There is
no instability here," Murapa said. 

Five students who were student union officials were suspended, "not because
of the boycott but for interrupting the smooth running of the university,"
he said. Four of the group were suspended for attempting to disrupt a
lecture and to get more students to participate in the boycott. The fifth
was suspended, he said, for "leading students to the administration building
and demanding to see Stevens and Salley and for prohibiting the running of
the university."

The leaders in the tension were not Africa University students but
representatives of the Zimbabwe National Student Union, which has members
from student unions across the country. "They came to incite students to
demand stoppage of university functions," Murapa said. 
 
Africa University, like other institutions, should expect moments of student
excitement, restlessness and anxiety, Murapa said. "I don't see the event
(the boycott) anything to be of concern to those of us who are fully
committed to the development of the institution."

The school is the only United Methodist-related university in Africa.

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