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ZINASU Extra-Ordinary General Council resolutions
Zimbabwe National Students Union (ZINASU)
July 14, 2010

The Plenary Session of the historic ZINASU Extra Ordinary General Council that took place in Harare on the 08th of July 2010 debated and resolved the following:

(a) That the Cadetship scheme is not the best form of government intervention because it affirms this era of reduced student support, as most universities/colleges have received numerous batches of partial payments which have left students vulnerable to dismissal from exam rooms and withholding of their results by authorities. Thus the General Council resolved to push for the progressive return to the popular student grants system because it remains the obligation of the state to fund tertiary education.

(b) The General Councilors mandated the ZINASU NEC to review the current state of the education sector in Zimbabwe through meetings and workshops of ZINASU regional structures, to assess the state of the education sector at institutional and regional level. The students demanded that the government of Zimbabwe must also have the same review process, especially where the issue of the Minister of Higher and Tertiary Education, Dr Stan Mudenge is concerned who has been rendered inefficient by health-related circumstances. The Union called upon the Government to urgently recall Minister Mudenge and redeploy an able minister to rescue the sector from total collapse.

(c) The students expressed great concern over the underutilized role of the Zimbabwe Manpower Development Fund (ZIMDEF) in assisting the accessibility of education at tertiary institutions, especially articulating that its revival in liaison with the private sector may make student grants a reality.

(d) The students called for the Ministry of Finance to give serious budgetary considerations to the Ministry of Higher and Tertiary Education with the view to increase financial support to students by the Government of Zimbabwe in light of recent socio-economic deprivation. Particularly the students also called for the reviewing of student teacher allowances.

(e) That the continued sexual abuse of female students by some college authorities and lecturers remains in huge discord with all efforts to advance the rights of the girl child especially where the right to education is concerned, including non-discrimination and abuse. The agreement was that ZINASU must coordinate with other campaigners, stakeholders and relevant authorities towards the resolution of that issue.

(f) The students called to remain dignified in their struggles, on the backdrop of student victimization which saw many student activists being jailed or dismissed from tertiary institutions in the recent months, in an undeclared undemocratic programme of thwarting of the student voices which included the Ministry of Home Affairs, Ministry of Higher and Tertiary Education and the university/college authorities. The students denounce the militarization of state tertiary institutions into quasi-police states as displayed by the frequent presence of police officers, demanding of identification reminiscent of the colonial system, and disproportionate presence of state security agents and battalions of university security, and strongly demand their disbanding. The students unequivocally affirm their right to politically mobilize for the right to education in Zimbabwe.

(g) Genuine student leadership must be instituted at tertiary institutions through student driven elections. Particularly, we note that many institutions are not having SRC elections and where these are elected the administrations only allow token representation and have created their own systems of patronage on institutional unions.

(h) That the ZINASU take the campaign against Privatization of Education and other related facilities serious to an advanced level by spearheading the formation of Anti-Privatization Forums at Universities, Polytechnics, Teachers Colleges and other institutions of higher and tertiary learning. Meanwhile, the General Council also reaffirmed the ideological stand point of ZINASU as strong as that of a Marxist Leninist inclination towards championing the rights of the poor. In this regard, the Union also warned that no amount of financial rewards should be allowed to cow the Union into submission and regret about its ideological orientation.

(i) The General Councilors dictated, in light of the current confusion among some student activists, that in accordance with the ZINASU Constitution and mandate the students shall remain the chief custodians of the Union and this should be through vigorous participation in decision making processes.

(j) ZINASU ratified the formation of a Young Communist League in Zimbabwe to champion the struggles of all the marginalized youths in Zimbabwe, including students who have faced privatization of the education sector, young members of the working people, the unemployed, the youth assembly of NCA and youths in political parties who are being subjected to disempowerment.

(k) The students demanded that politicians must not monopolize important national socio-political processes of note, the National Healing program and the constitutional making agenda. They particularly noted that the current constitutional making process must be interrogated with the view that it is not the best model and may lead to undesired results, especially given its hitherto events. Therefore as ZINASU we amplify our demand for a genuine people-driven constitution as opposed to "people being driven" process. In the same vein, ZINASU will continue to partner like minded movements under the "Take Charge" Campaign in resisting the COPAC Led process. ZINASU also resolved in line with the national healing agenda that the students of Zimbabwe demand an immediate amnesty for student activists who were dismissed from universities/colleges prior and after the formation of the inclusive government.

(l) ZINASU agreed that the workers, particularly civil servants must be sufficiently remunerated through serious budgetary considerations by the Ministry of Finance and exploring of other avenues of fiscus generation of note the Marange diamond fields. Meanwhile, the General Council also reaffirmed the ideological stand point of ZINASU as strong as that of a Marxist Leninist inclination in fighting to champion the rights of the poor, particularly the students of Zimbabwe. In this regard, the Union also warned that no amount of financial rewards should be allowed to cow the Union into submission and regret about its ideological orientation. Finally, let me warn that the path that we have taken is the path that the General Councilors of ZINASU, the highest decision making board of the UNION has chosen and let no one who is negative spoil or interfere with this path unless he/ she wants to be at the mercy of the students.

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