Around a thousand students accuse the management of the Higher Institute of Science and Technology of Mozambique (ISCTEM) of extortion, illegal charges and threats, according to the Center for Democracy and Human Rights (CDD).

ISCTEM's management is allegedly invalidating students' tuition payments and forcing them to pay twice as much, otherwise they won't be able to take their exams and their enrollment will be suspended.

"ISCTEM management says that the deposits were not channeled to the institution, allegedly because the POS payment terminal used to process the payments of the students concerned did not belong to ISCTEM," reads the CDD's human rights bulletin.

According to the document, an employee of the institution was identified who was "fraudulently" diverting the tuition fees paid by students.

"Even knowing that the tuition fees had not been paid into the institution's accounts due to an action by its employee, ISCTEM's management forced the students to pay all the installments previously made, under the threat of not being able to take their regular assessments and exams, resulting in the loss of the academic year," says the CDD.

In addition, which, according to the CDD, constitutes a violation of the right to education, ISCTEM allegedly forced the students to sign a declaration of commitment, claiming that they were in collusion with the head of the treasury in the embezzlement of tuition fees and that they would have to pay the installments back to the institution.

"In order to coerce the students into signing the declaration, the institution installed agents from the National Criminal Investigation Service (SERNIC), who directly intimidated the students into signing the declaration. Because this declaration needs to be authenticated by the Notary Services, the ISCTEM management decided to unlawfully charge the students 250.00 meticais, an exorbitant amount considering that similar documents cost between 25 and 50 Mt for the general public," it reads.

"The head of the Treasury Department is nowhere to be found. ISTEM says it has seized the assets of the fugitive employee. Meanwhile, students are still having to pay tuition fees to cover a shortfall of more than 20,000,000.00 meticais. Several students are unable to take exams and those who have already graduated are harassed to pay the fees, damaging their honor and reputation in the job market. This situation shows a serious violation of fundamental rights, compromising the right to education and other related rights, limiting the dreams of students at that institution," says the NGO.