The Zimbabwean
Written by Staff Reporter
Wednesday, 28 October 2009
BULAWAYO – The ministry if Education, Sports and Culture is set to introduce a new instrument aimed at curbing the rampant abuse of school funds. David Coltart said the new piece of legislation would encourage parents to pay fees and other levies without fear that their money would be misused.
“The issue of incentives is difficult as the government cannot afford to pay teachers satisfactorily and at the same time the issue of incentives is troubling a lot of stakeholders. I am working on statutory instruments that will look at the paying of levies in schools. I will tighten up the regulations to reduce the abuse of paying incentives,†he said.
Coltart said that at the forthcoming budget planning meetings with cabinet ministers in November, the issue of incentives would be looked at.
“It is not useful to look at teachers in isolation because it affects other civil servants as well. Teachers have to be paid in line with other civil servants,†he said.
Coltart said his ministry was facing a huge dilemma regarding schools that sent students away for not paying incentives.
“Principals have limited means of running their schools so the only weapon at their disposal is suing parents but that exercise is costly and takes time,†he said.
The minister said, however, that he understood the predicament of school heads because if parents did not pay it put them in a difficult position.
He said one of the remedies to the current challenges was to ensure that School Development Councils (SDCs) charged nominal fees and that schools came up with mechanisms on how the fees should be paid.