Tertiary education student allowance rises

Government has taken a decision to increase tertiary education students’ allowance to P2 200, set to take effect at the end of April, Minister of Higher Education, Mr Prince Maele has revealed.Addressing tertiary education students who had marched to the Office of the President yesterday, Mr Maele said government had made the determination having assessed the country’s economic situation. While the Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC) leadership was keen to make good on its electoral pledge of P2 500 tertiary students’ allowance, Mr Maele said government could only offer the students what was feasible within the current financial year. He said the decision had already been made by cabinet but the delay in making the public announcement was owing to government assessing if funds could be sourced to increase the P2 200 sum.

Mr Maele reiterated government’s compassion towards students’ economic challenges and their commitment towards addressing the needs of tertiary education students. Before being addressed by Mr Maele, student leaders, Messrs Terrance Sonny of the UDC Moono wa Baithuti, Neville Sechele of the Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) GS26 and Asalepele Kalodi of the Botswana Congress Party (BCP) Student Congress presented student concerns to the minister, after leading a march across Gaborone Central to the Government Enclave. Mr Sonny said they had been engaging the minister regularly through written communication and were now seeking a solution to their economic challenges, insisting that they now wanted an increment.

Mr Sechele added that they were faced with monthly costs, including purchasing food, transportation, mobile telephony data costs, which the current P1 900 off-campus and P1 500 on-campus allowances were inadequate to address. He said they had taken a corporate decision to gather across party political lines and focus collectively on the challenges facing the student body. They said having previously communicated with the minister their wish for the P2 500 student allowance UDC electoral promise to be implemented, they were now requesting an answer to their plea.

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Mr Kalodi said rental costs were high and the overall cost of living was leading to social ills such as prostitution and depression among students. Mr Maele said government cared about the welfare of students but was currently constrained by the country’s economic circumstances from reaching the P2 500 ideal.

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