The Herald
29 June 2009
Tuition fees at State schools for the second term have been waived and pupils have to pay only the admission fees of US$5 for primary schools and US$10 for secondary schools plus levies agreed to by a majority of parents.
In an interview last week, Education, Arts, Sport and Culture Minister David Coltart said the Government agreed that the admission fees already stipulated were enough for tuition, and no more payments would be made other than levies.
In May this year, Government pegged admission fees for primary and secondary State schools while the Cabinet was considering what pupils should pay as tuition fees.
Minister Coltart had hinted then that the new school fees would be less than the US$20 for primary and US$50 for secondary set for the first term.
But Cabinet had now sat to consider school fees and felt that the admission fees that it set were enough.
“Cabinet did consider what parents should pay as tuition fees, but came to the conclusion that it was not necessary to burden them with another demand for money,†said Minister Coltart.
“The admission fees we announced were deemed as enough for this term, what school authorities then need to do is to determine levies that should be collectively agreed by parents in a meeting,†he said.
The Minster emphasised that it was critical that school authorities consulted parents in coming up with figures that should be paid as levies.
“This is in terms of the law, no one is above the law, it should be complied with,†he said.
Asked when the Government would determine examination fees for November, the Minister said his ministry was still working on figures. “That is still being worked on, we are through with the June examinations, what now remains is examination fees for November.â€
Parents and guardians were asked to pay US$10 per subject for their children to write Ordinary Level, an amount some struggled to find.
Many parents have struggled to raise the money, resulting in most pupils either registering fewer subjects or failing to register at all.
Two weeks ago, Education Arts, Sport and Culture Deputy Minister, Lazarus Dokora told Parliament that it was critical to peg fees that would enable the Zimbabwe Schools Examination Council to conduct the examinations.
He was responding to questions raised by legislators on the examination fees which they said were too high.
The legislators had asked if it was not possible to stagger payments since marking usually begins in December and January, while fees are required to be paid during registration, mostly around March to May.
But Deputy Minister Dokora said marking was not the only cost related to preparing examinations, as there were other costs such as transport and preparing for question papers.