Students at Mzuzu University have complained about facing a severe crisis, with over 40 academically eligible students barred from sitting for their end-of-semester examinations due to outstanding tuition fees.
Speaking in an interview on Sunday, President of the Mzuzu University Students’ Representative Council, George Kamadya, lamented that the situation has been exacerbated by widespread food insecurity on campus, with reports of students struggling to access basic meals, and three students reportedly lost their lives due to hunger and distress.
Kamadya said is what prompted the students’ representative council to write to the university council, highlighting the gravity of the situation and appealing for urgent intervention.
“These concerns have been consistently brought to my attention through formal and informal engagements with the student body and demand urgent institutional attention,” he explained.
The letter, which we have also seen, also expresses concern over the non-disbursement of student loans by the Higher Education Students Loans and Grants Board, leaving many students stranded and unable to meet tuition, accommodation, and subsistence costs.
Furthermore, the decision to exclude Open and Distance Learning (ODeL) students from accessing student loans has pushed affected students into deep economic distress, the letter adds.
“Excluding ODeL students from loan eligibility solely on the basis of mode of delivery raises serious equity and fairness concerns and, in effect, amounts to discriminatory treatment that is neither pedagogically nor socially justifiable,” the letter states.
Education rights advocates such as Benedicto Kondowe, who is also the Executive Director for Civil Society Education Coalition (CSEC), condemned the worsening student welfare crisis, calling for immediate release of outstanding loans, reversal of the ODeL decision, and urgent welfare interventions.
“Education must not be reserved for the privileged—no capable Malawian student should be excluded because they are poor,” Kondowe said.
There was no immediate comment from authorities at the Ministry of Education. However, the university’s students are looking to the government and university administration to take swift action to address the crisis and ensure that no student is left behind.