Tertiary students forced into prostitution
- Blessers are taking advantage of broke tertiary students - Poor parents beg for money from students - Government should be taken to court - SRC
Empty stomachs are forcing students into prostitution, drugs, and other criminal activities because they cannot keep up with the high national inflation rate.
For a long time now students have begged the government to increase living allowances from P1 600 to a better stipend to help them cope with the high prices of goods.
When the Minister of Education Douglas Letsholathebe addressed the nation last week, students were left disappointed when he announced that government will soon introduce a discount card for shopping and transport fares.
Speaking to The Midweek Sun this week, president of the University of Botswana (UB) Student Representative Council (SRC) Prosper Lorato said the reason why young university girls are quick to throw themselves at older men is that they are hungry.
“They are not able to resist men who throw money at them. And men know it too. They take advantage of knowing that students cannot afford anything. They are struggling.”
This is one of the many reasons that society looks at UB students with disgust, thinking it is all intentional. Little do some know that cupboards are empty and the girls are hustling for their stomachs in the most dangerous way. “It is even sad here because young men even resort to selling cigarettes and alcohol in school but it is against the rules. The University takes all those away from them, but students do that to supplement what they get,” Lorato said.
He went on to say that the government is not meeting its obligation of ensuring that it sponsors and maintains students during their time in tertiary.
“I believe it is now time we build a solid case and take the government to court, they said our obligation is to study diligently, how do we study with growling stomachs? At the end of the day students fail because the sponsor is doing so little to maintain them,” Lorato said.
Students also fail because they are forever thinking about where they will get the next meal. Their attention is diverted entirely from books. If students are to hustle legitimately by looking for jobs, it means their school work will suffer and the sponsor will terminate the sponsorship.
Botswana Accountancy College (BAC) SRC President Theo Monageng agrees with Lorato.
“This is why talk of sugar daddies or blessers is rife. Men will continue to take advantage of young women knowing well they will not say no to the monies they are showered with,” he said, adding that young women are often forced to throw ethics out of the window for survival.
“Government should do something about this, we have been patient enough, we have not been violent and I wish they do not push students to the edge.”
Monageng feels that lawmakers are taking the matter lightly because their children study abroad. “I do not think they feel the pain we are experiencing, if they did, they would understand what we are saying,” he said.
He even called out the country’s president.
“It is time that President Mokgweetsi Masisi addresses us, we have heard from his minister but the matter is still a hot potato. The minister needs to come out and address the youth,” he said.
Monageng quashed Letsholathebe’s remarks on voucher cards saying it will not be feasible to do so.
“We know that they cannot propose a discount of more than five percent, the little percentage will do nothing to the already low allowance. The main focus should be to increase the allowance, theirs is just a political trick,” he noted.
The Botswana University of Agriculture and Natural Resources (BUAN) SRC president Goabaone Rich Makolobe said the discounts are a welcome idea but they will not alleviate students from the financial pressure they face.
The cost of living, he said, is extremely high and what they want is allowance increment and nothing else. What the minister should have talked about more than anything is accommodation.
“That one area is very important because rent has drastically increased with time,” he said. Currently, the only option is for students to find accommodation near their school.
A single room with no bathroom and not even tiles go for P1 000 around the city, meaning the student will be left with only P600 for cooking gas, toiletry, food, electricity, and transport to school.
If students find accommodation in the outskirts of the city, they pay more for transport there is no better way out.
As if that is not enough, some students are forced to share the little they receive with their parents. “If they buy a P50 electricity voucher for the parent, it will be a great sacrifice.”
Makolobe said the life of a student is generally hard in Botswana and some end up depressed and leave school altogether.