Chanco students petition JB

Students at Chancellor College in Zomba, a constituent college of the University of Malawi (Unima), on Wednesday petitioned President Joyce Banda to protest the recent hike in tuition fees for government-sponsored and self-sponsored students.

According to the petition, the Unima Council in conjunction with the Malawi Government has this academic year increased tuition fee for government-sponsored Unima students from K25 000 to K55 000 and from an average of K100 000 to K250 000 for self-sponsored students.

The protest march started from Chancellor College campus at around 9am to the district commissioner’s (DC) office. On their way, the students chanted songs while police kept a vigilant eye on them.

The petition was presented to Zomba DC Harry Phiri by Students Union of Chancellor College (Succ) vice-president Julie Chibekete. The DC assured the students that their grievances will be forwarded to the President as soon as possible.

In the petition, the students claim that the manner in which the whole exercise was carried out has not gone down well with the student community at Chancellor College.

“We plead with your excellency to act with speed because if these grievances are not addressed, it will mean that many students will have to withdraw since over 70 percent cannot, under the present conditions, manage to register.”