Gov’t allowances to Malawi university students must go
Upkeep allowances, disbursed monthly to all government sponsored students in the country’s public universities, have been recipe for all sorts of mayhem since they were introduced. Because of them, students have found enough reasons to insult innocent passersby and barricade innocent motorists on the country’s roads, to mention just but a few problems.
Introduced not more than two years ago, the upkeep allowances initiative demands on the part of the colleges to set aside K40 000 (about US$80) for each student each month as their meal allowances. In addition to the meal allowances which, elsewhere in the same country are monthly incomes for salaried statesmen and women, the students get yearly stationery allowances of about K30 000 (about US$60).
Well, much as government issues out the money on the basis that the students are needy and, therefore, not capable of supporting their financial welfares, the students are possibly being as unthankful as dogs if their demeanors on the same which have heightened over the years are anything to go buy.
Of course that the students are needy is a lie. Most – of course, with exception of very, very few cases – would be capable of supporting themselves as far as issues of meals and stationery are concerned. After all, government already fills the bigger part of the puzzle by paying for their school fees.
And, yet, the students always go rowdy at the mention of anything regarding the allowances. Worst of it all, the students go to the extent of stoning, insulting innocent taxpayers who are the grand financiers of the money they make so much noise about.
The last week, for example, has seen Mzuzu University (Mzuni) students going on rampage because of the same. The students have since been indefinitely suspended, which means something about a year or so as a holiday for them. Had it been not for the allowances there would not have been the noise, and the students – especially the finales who were due to end their programmes in the next two weeks – would have been safe and sound.
Mzuni is not alone. At Chancellor College (Chanco) – a constituent of the University of Malawi (Unima) – calls, likely to end in notorious demonstrations, are rife that the allowances be hiked from the current K40 000 to K60 000 on basis of economic tough times. Now, K60 000 is monthly income for most of these students’ parents or guardians with which they pay bills, feed and clothe their siblings back home. And, what do our students use the allowances for? Shop luxuriously, smoke, drink and womanize.
We, at Nyasa Times, would like to appeal to all stakeholders to find other modalities, with which they can help government sponsored students for they are causing us, as a nation, more harm than good at the expense of our own taxes. The upkeep allowances must definitely go.
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kweni kweni chimakhala chani ? why are u comparing dismilar situation? stupid mtolamkhani
the writer knows nothing and is very stupid. DPP yakoyo ndi imene inasiya kutipatsa ma meals ku cafe instead anayamba kutipatsa dollar. Go and ask college admin how much they r saving now as compared to the past wen we were given fud. And uliuze boma lakolo limange ma hostels okwana coz pa 40pin ikunenedwayo ena amalipira rent outside campus 20-25pin. Go get facts b4 writing trash
its not necessarily a right but a necessity that the government owes to it citizens it true government take a risk in sponsoring us but its more that worth takin I will tell u why am rised by a single mum she’s a school teacher her salary I think is around 70 thousand I wasn’t born poor like I said my dad died with my siblings we clearly have one shot of having a decent living that’s university education its not the only way but but it the best decent way any parent would be thankful for I know I’m… Read more »
Biso name Biso let mi lecture u….A Mzuni graduate is 100 times competitive on the job market than any graduate from your colleges…Palibe chimene umadziwa cha pa university let alone cha ku college imene unachoka iweyo…Foooooolllllll!!!!!!
Mesa akakupasani ma free meals?pano kulibe dat dats y kuli upkeep allowances to buy food
Editor ndi chisiru, tikagona ndi hule lako ife, chakudya ukatidyesa, za chamba basi.
Truly, the writer sumadziwa chomwe ukulemba, u think that nkhani ya upkeep allowance is common sense that u can write anything about it as long as u know we are paid 40 grand, noo do ur research first then u will know that wat u have written is nonsense
Obviously oziwa kutukwanawo atukwana kale nde sindiwonjezera ayi. In stead, what I will do is to help u with some kind of thinking, I mean intellectual kind of thinking. I promise whoever wrote this article that I will remain sober as am pumping sense into your nonsense article. To begin with, if this is indeed nyastaimes editorial team that has come up with such a thought, then in Malawi we have very big problems. Its not only her economy that need to sort out but also her people of such mindset. What do you want to achieve?, that the allowance… Read more »
and u thnk u r a profeshono journalist hahahahahahaha uyu siwapa mighty wadia
Mbalame iwe sukudziwa kut ka 40 ko kamagwra ntchito yanj,cafe ya pa campus you pay about 1500/day ukapanga pamwez ndi almost 45000,nde ukuona ngat tizikagona kwa mako?