Ministry sticks to public ’varsities tuition fees hike

Ministry of Education, Science and Technology has put its foot down on the100 percent increase in public universities tuition fees, rebuffing calls from concerned students to reverse the decision.

The country’s six public universities hiked their tuition in July this year, citing rising cost of education but students and education stakeholders resisted the decision.

Through an August 11 2026 engagement with government officials in Lilongwe, students’ representatives asked for a reversal of the adjustment and replace it with a 35 percent gradual increment.

But in a response last week, Ministry of Education, Science and Technology director of higher education Fritz Kadyoma said the government’s position on the matter has not changed.

Reads the communication: “Fees will remain at K1.3 million per year [for all the genuine reasons shared with the student leaders at the meeting in the ministry’s conference room].

“All the students certified by Higher Education Students’ Loans and Grants Board as needy will get loans from government equivalent to their degree of need. Other students [outside the Loans Board list] needing loans may be supported by their universities through endowment funds.”

Kadyoma: Fees will

remain. | Nation

Speaking on behalf of students unions of all public universities, University of Malawi (Unima) students union president Yatuta Mulungu said students need time to brainstorm the matter.

“It’s a notification student union leaders need to escalate to students at each institution where feedback will be gathered to make another informed decision,” he said in an interview.

The tussle on tuition fees came after Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Mzuzu University, Malawi University of Business and Applied Sciences, Unima and Malawi University of Science and Technology hiked fees from K650 000 to K1.3 million per academic year.

On the other hand, Kamuzu University of Health Sciences moved from K1 million to K2 million, but implementation will begin from the 2027/28 academic year.

In the K10.9 trillion 2026/27 National Budget passed in March, government allocated K42 billion for student loans and upkeep allowances to cater for 38 000 needy students but only 33 258 of 46 386, who applied, were provisionally approved with loans.

In a written response, Civil Society Education Coalition executive director Benedicto Kondowe said government has provided certainty on its position but ignored the affordability concerns students raised.

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