BY ERASMUS MABHEBHURA

Students at tertiary colleges and secondary schools preparing for their end of year exams are complaining that the continuous daily 18-hour power are hindering their studies as they are failing to go online for research when there is no power.

The students say most of the reading material they need to prepare for exams is only available online, as most libraries within the institution and communities mainly have archaic books that do not serve their purpose and hence have to frequently go online for research.

Tinashe, a student at Glen Norah High School sad he was losing hope on passing his exams as his studies are continuously being affected.

“The unavailability of electricity is affecting us educationally. Our school does not have enough text books to cater for every student, so we visit the internet cafés regularly to research online. However, the cafes are now mostly closed as there is no electricity,” he said.

A University of Zimbabwe student, Lincoln Chimwaradze, said he was finding it difficult to write his assignments as his research was being hampered by loadshedding as he cannot go online for research.

“Much of the material needed for assignments is available online, but each time I visit the internet café there would no electricity. This has caused me to get low marks for my assignments,” Chimwaradze said.

An internet café owner Adoni Gozho concurred that his business was now low compared to the period when electricity was generally available.

“We used to have more than 60 students coming to research at the café from Southlea park, Glen Norah and Hopley, but now we are closed most of the time because there is no electricity. Running the café using diesel generators is not productive,” said Gozho.

The Energy ministry has failed to reassure the country when electricity supplies would be stable, citing forex shortages and reduced production capacity at Kariba and Hwange Thermal station.