Chronicle Editor
SCHOOLS opened for the second term yesterday with parents complaining that most schools have not just increased fees but were demanding that they be paid in United States dollars.
At some schools parents are being asked to pay a portion of the fees in US$ and the remainder in local currency while others want full payment in forex.
Some schools in a bid to force parents to pay the fees in forex, have increased the term fees in local currency to as high as $11 million and have given the parents the option to pay the equivalent in forex.
Most boarding schools are not accepting pupils who have not paid fees hence the public outcry from parents who are saying the issue of exorbitant fees should be urgently addressed.
Government has repeatedly called on school authorities to come up with affordable school fees and levies. It said school authorities should be cognisant of the economic hardships facing parents and guardians hence the need to come up with affordable fees.
It is a fact that most workers in the country are earning local currency and as such have to buy forex from the black market where it is very expensive to pay fees.
When Government allowed schools to charge fees in forex, it said parents should be given the option to pay the fees or levies in either forex or local currency.
Most school authorities are now demanding a portion of the fees in forex and in some cases full payment in forex which is contrary to the Government’s position.
Parents are already sacrificing for the education of their children given the obtaining economic challenges and the level of salaries many of them are earning.
It is therefore important for school authorities to be sensitive to the plight of these parents by charging affordable fees.
We appreciate that schools need adequate resources to properly function and as such school authorities should periodically review fees taking into account affordability.
School authorities that are sending pupils home for non-payment of fees are not only infringing the children’s right to education but are acting contrary to Government policy.
In 2011, the Bulawayo High Court ruled that it is parents or guardians who undertake to pay all fees for their children when they bring them to school.
The school authorities should therefore take legal action against parents in the event of them failing to pay the fees.
Schools fees payment obligation is therefore a contract between a parent or guardian and the school concerned and not the pupil.
The High Court made it clear that it is improper to use pupils as pawns to enforce payment by either turning them away or withholding examination results.
We want at this juncture to urge Government to punish errant school authorities that continue to deny children their right to education by sending them home for non-payment of fees.
Online Reporter