The Zimbabwe National Students Union (Zinasu) has challenged the government and tertiary institutions who are advocating on mandatory vaccination on students saying there is no law that prevents unvaccinated students from accessing education.
According to a letter dated August 30 and addressed to Higher Education minister Amon Murwira, Zinasu secretary-general Tapiwanashe Chiriga said the measures taken by most educational institutions are unfair.
“It should be stated that at the present moment, there is no law that makes access to education the preserve of persons who have been vaccinated.
“We thus find measures taken by institutions of higher learning to be drastic, unfair and illegal.” He said.
Chiriga said it is human rights violation for the government to force students to get vaccinated.
“On the contrary, we take refuge in the Constitution whose print states clearly a number of fundamental rights that will be violated should this persist
“We believe it is still the government position that vaccination is not compulsory.” He said.
“The right to access education cannot be abrogated on the basis of one’s speed to access vaccines,” added the students.
The letter came after several institutions of higher learning which include the University of Zimbabwe, Harare Institute of Technology and Chinhoyi University of Technology, among others have barred unvaccinated students from entering their premises.