Byo City Council schools owed $2m

Nqobile Tshili Chronicle Correspondent
BULAWAYO City Council (BCC) is owed nearly $2 million in unpaid school fees for the first term of 2016, a development the local authority says is affecting service delivery.

In a report contained in the latest council minutes, the local authority says by the end of first term the council had received $470,828 in fees instead of the expected $2,374,258.

“Total enrolment in all the 30 schools stood at 39,341. Expected revenue including arrears was $2,374,258.50. The actual amount paid at the close of the first term was $470,828 with $1,903,431 outstanding,” reads part of the report.

It says failure to pay school fees was adversely affecting service delivery.

Efforts by school authorities to force payment of fees have proved futile owing to the government’s policy that prevents schools from sending pupils home over non-payment of fees.

It said the government has for over a year also struggled to pay fees for children under the Basic Education Assistance Module (Beam) scheme.

“In 2015 there were no Basic Education Assistance Module funds allocated to schools and government still owed third term 2014 fees for the orphaned and vulnerable pupils. It was noted that this term schools had provisionally indicated amounts set aside for Beam beneficiaries. It was hoped that government sought alternative funding for this programme. Beam arrears had moved up to $68,869 for council levies and $76,900 for Parent Teacher Association (PTA) levies,” reads part of the report.

The Beam’s facility is a government’s project to pay fees for children coming from vulnerable families. Last year the government expressed concern over the abuse of Beam funds which saw some undeserving people benefiting.