By KETRA KALUNGA
IT is an embarrassment to the country that students who are on government sponsorship are stranded in Kenya when they are supposed to be cared for through the Zambian High Commissioner to that country, the Zambia National Education Coalition (ZANEC) has said.
About 32 students sent to Kenya in 2018 under bursary scholarship are helpless after going for about five months without allowances, prompting their families to plead for Government’s quick intervention.
And now ZANEC has demanded an explanation from Government through the High Commission why the students since August last year have not been receiving allowances, a situation that has forced then into borrowing money from Kenyans to survive.
ZANEC has also expressed disappointment that the issue was being politicised through insinuations that the students were helpless because they were awarded scholarships as Patriotic Front members.
ZANEC Executive Director George Hamusunga said reports of students resorting to borrowing money from Kenyan lecturers and students to survive is an embarrassment to the Zambian High Commission because it’s their responsibility to look after the welfare of the students.
Mr. Hamusunga said ZANEC demands an explanation to the circumstances which has led to the students being stranded when the country has a diplomatic mission in Kenya.
He said the Ministry of Education should issue a statement giving details why the students sent for studies on Government sponsorship are helpless.
“It’s an embarrassment that this issue has reached this far, it’s an embarrassment for it to even come in the media when the country has an embassy in Kenya which is supposed to attend to the problems facing the students,’’ he said.
He said ZANEC is disappointed that the issue has been politicised and urged Zambians to refrain from attaching politics to education.
Mr. Hamusunga said it’s uncalled for that some sections of society were trivialising the matter by attaching politics to the situation which he said was delicate.
He has appealed to the government through the High Commission to quickly resolve the situation to avoid further embarrassments.
….as it demands an explanation
