eBusiness Weekly
HARARE – The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) has directed all local banks to avail necessary foreign currency that parents require to pay tuition fees for their children studying abroad, the National Assembly heard on Thursday.
Zimbabwe is facing serious foreign currency shortages, which have resulted in the RBZ introducing a foreign exchange priority with tuition fees for students studying abroad among the lowest.
Many parents have since found it difficult to pay tuition fees or even to send money to their children in foreign tertiary institutions.
In a statement, Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Foreign Affairs, Industry and Commerce chairman Kindness Paradza said Parliament had engaged the RBZ governor over the matter.
He said affected parents and guardians should approach their banks for assistance.
“A directive from the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe has already been given to local banks to prioritise this matter,” he said.
“The intervention by Parliament was prompted by several disturbing reports emanating from more than 3 000 Zimbabwean students studying in Northern Cyprus, most of whom are now stranded due to lack of tuition fees and money for food.”
Paradza said if the situation continued unabated, some of the students, especially female, would be forced to engage in immoral activities such as prostitution or co-habiting with strangers, while their male counterparts would end up being involved in criminal activities.
“Parliament is in the process of sending a delegation on a fact finding mission to Northern Cyprus in order to appreciate, on location, the magnitude of these challenges being faced by our citizens studying in that country,” he said. – New Ziana
