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Minister,
JOMIC member urge expelled students not to despair
Students
Solidarity Trust
January 23, 2012
The Students Solidarity Trust (SST) held its Against All Odds (AAO)
ceremony on Friday 20 January 2012 in Harare where 35 students who
were previously expelled or suspended from various institutions
of higher learning and pursued alternative education were honored.
The students were expelled or suspended mainly for exercising their
students' rights at their respective institutions. The students'
rights over the decade were trampled upon by administrations at
institutions of higher learning and by law enforcement agents at
the height of the near demise of the education delivery system in
a bid to keep the institutions going in face of students'
protests. Most students were arrested, tortured, had their results
withheld and were evicted from halls of residence before being expelled
or suspended.
The AAO ceremony had over hundred students attending. The other
participants included the students still receiving support from
SST who are yet to complete their education against all odds. Also
present at the ceremony were outstanding individuals who have contributed
immensely to the students' movement through various services
such as legal representation at disciplinary hearings and courts
and through moral and material support to students. The outstanding
individuals included Honorable Thabitha Khumalo, Crisis
in Zimbabwe Director and former coordinator of SST McDonald
Lewanika, YET Director Lucy Mazingi, civil society leaders Itai
Zimunya, Sizani Weza and Otto Saki.
Minister of
Information, Communication and Technology (ICT) Nelson Chamisa who
was once expelled from Harare Polytechnic College and Joint Monitoring
and Implementation Committee (JOMIC) member Thabitha Khumalo urged
students expelled or suspended from institutions of higher learning
in the past decade not to despair and to complete their studies
against all odds. Speaking at the 2012 AAO ceremony the minister
reflected on the challenges students of his era faced and the protests
they staged to press for academic freedoms and better learning conditions
which resulted in his expulsion from Harare Polytechnic College.
"I am
not boasting but I can proudly say it today that we have acquired
education against odds after being expelled", the minister
said. The Minister lamented on the lack of government support in
the education sector stating that the government should act as an
enabler to students wishing to pursue further education. Chamisa
after being expelled from Harare Polytechnic enrolled with the Institute
of Marketing Management and later completed an undergraduate degree
and masters degree with the University
of Zimbabwe where he has also undertaken a second undergraduate
degree.
Speaking at
the same occasion JOMIC member and member of Parliament for Bulawayo
East, a constituency where National
University of Science and Technology (NUST), Hillside Teachers
Training College and School of Mines are located, Honorable Thabitha
Khumalo emphasized that students should not lose direction and the
objective of going to school despite having been expelled from their
respective institutions of higher learning. Khumalo recollected
on victimization accounts she regularly receives from students from
her constituency.
Students from
a Norwegian based Students and Academics International Help Fund
(SAIH) congratulated the students who have completed their studies
against all odds. The Student Solidarity Trust continues to lobby
the inclusive government to institute reforms in the education sector
to allow students to enjoy their rights.
Visit the Students
Solidarity Trust fact
sheet
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