Malawi Ministry of Education Clarifies Hike in Public University Fees
The ministry said that the fees were last revised in 2016 and that the increase was necessary to enable the universities to provide quality education.
LILONGWE, Malawi-The Ministry of Education in Malawi has clarified the recent hike in fees at public universities, writes Happy Valirani.
The ministry said that the fees were last revised in 2016 and that the increase was necessary to enable the universities to provide quality education.
"I should first remind you that the university fees were last revised in 2016 despite the economic changes over the years," said Mphatso Mkuonera, a public relations officer for the ministry.
"It was therefore deemed necessary to hike the fees now to enable the public universities to provide necessary and quality education to our children."
Mkuonera further said, "Despite the valid reasons justifying the proposed rates, the Ministry of Education recommended that each institution should not exceed more than K650,000 per academic year for all the universities."
He added that the ministry had listened to requests from the public to reduce the fees and that it would be conducting an analysis of the situation before making a decision.
"We have listened to the requests, and we will look into the requests that people are making to the Ministry to slash down the recent fee adjustment," Mkuonera said.
"We will act accordingly upon conducting an analysis and will come back to inform the general public."
The hike in fees has been met with mixed reactions from the public.
Some people have said that the increase is necessary to ensure that the universities can provide quality education, while others have said that it is too expensive and will make it difficult for people from poor families to send their children to university.
The ministry said that it understands the concerns of the public and that it will take them into account when making its decision.