Stampede for Grade 1 and Form 1 places

News Day

by Phillip Chidavaenzi and Pamela Mhlanga

11 January 2013

MANY parents were by yesterday still struggling to secure places for Grade 1 and Form 1 pupils two days after the 2013 school calendar had officially opened.

Although NewsDay understands that most schools had long closed their intakes for 2013, at one primary school in Harare, some parents and guardians could be seen loitering around the school yard praying for a last-minute reprieve.

Avondale Primary School headmistress Nothando Mtomba said in exceptional cases they were compelled to exceed their average enrolment limit to cater for pupils who would have been in the Early Child Development (ECD) classes, but failed to secure places elsewhere as they would have intended.

“We have three Grade 1 classes with 50 pupils each at the moment because we wanted to accommodate those who had attended our ECD and were hoping to get places elsewhere but failed.

“Normally, we have a teacher-pupil ratio of 1:40,” she said. “This is mainly because we had to accommodate pupils who were in our ECD classes but had not submitted their names for Grade 1.”

Pupils at the school, she said, paid $150 fees per term. She said the other schools in their catchment area, Twin Rivers, had very high fees and that often led to an influx of prospective pupils at her school.

Mtomba said all their Grade 1 pupils for 2013 were offered places in March last year so they were not entertaining new requests.

“We take in pupils for the following year on the first Wednesday of March. By July, we would have notified you whether or not your child got a place and by October, the fees should have been paid,” she said. “So by the time schools open, all the registers will be in place.”

She admitted that in the last few years, there had been an upsurge in the number of pupils seeking Grade 1 places. For most parents, securing school fees is often a challenge in the first term due to the excesses that merry-making people often engage in during the festive season.

At Zengeza High 2 in Chitungwiza, places for Form 1 were filled long before 2012 came to a close. An official at the school, where pupils pay $120 this term, said demand for places had increased and the school now had seven Form 1 classes, each with no less than 60 pupils.

“As soon as the Grade 7 results were published, we started enrolling pupils and by the time the year ended, we had filled all seven classes, each with an average of 60 pupils,” he said, adding that some pupils still came in search for Grade 1 places at the beginning of the first term.

He added that fees for the second and third term were, however, pegged at an average of $78. During the first term the fees for Form 1 pupils are higher because there is need for them to have learning materials such as exercise books and school identity cards as well as sporting items,” he said.

This was almost the same situation at Zengeza 8 Primary School, also in Chitungwiza.”

The school has five Grade 1 classes, each with an average of 50 pupils. The pupils pay $70 as fees inclusive of a building fee for a project at the school.

In a related matter in Bulawayo, Gweru and Masvingo, some schools defied a 2011 government directive and sent pupils home for non-payment of fees.

A survey in Bulawayo and Gweru showed that most schools had sent away pupils who had not paid fees. Schools that reportedly sent pupils back home in Bulawayo included Milton Junior, Bulawayo Adventist High School and McKeurtan Primary School.

At Milton Junior, returning pupils were required to pay $84 while new pupils paid $140.

Education minister David Coltart urged headmasters to exercise tolerance on pupils who failed to pay fees as schools opened for the 2013 first term.

He, however, stressed that since schools required money to operate, school authorities and parents should engage in dialogue and agree on feasible payment plans.

The Bulawayo Progressive Residents’ Association (BPRA) has lambasted schools in the city which turned away students for non-payment of fees when the first term opened on Monday.

BPRA co-ordinator Rodrick Fayayo said that his organisation was disappointed with school authorities who defied a government order barring schools from turning away pupils for non-payment of fees.

Magwegwe MP Felix Magalela Sibanda said it was both “illegal and immoral” for headmasters to turn away children from school because their parents had failed to pay fees.