Zimbabwean
By Wallace Mawire
18 September 2010
HARARE – Former beneficiaries of the Farm Orphan Support Trust FOST) education assistance programme have been left out in the Basic Education Assistance Module (BEAM) and may be forced to drop out of school in the long run, according to FOST executive director Moira Ngaru.
BEAM is a fund set aside by the government to pay fees for orphaned and vulnerable children at all schools in Zimbabwe and is administered through the government’s Department of Social Welfare.
But Ngaru said orphans attempts to transfer children who were receiving support from FOST to the BEAM programme have failed. FOST is unable to keep supporting all children registered under its programmes because of budgetary constraints, according to Ngaru.
“Selection of beneficiaries for this fund (BEAM) proved to be a challenge as some of the children who were beneficiaries of the FOST education assistance programme were left out,” Ngaru said. Moira gave an example of Mashonaland Central province where a survey by FOST showed that 39.3 percent of children it was supporting have failed to get support from the BEAM a situation that could see them dropping out of school.
Education Minister David Coltart referred questions on the matter Social Welfare Minister Paurina Mupariwa. Coltart however said that the recently launched Education Transition Fund would assist children in farm communities as it is targeted at deserving children in urban, peri-urban and rural communities. Mupariwa could not be reached for comment on the matter.