Corruption charges for teachers demanding extra lessons fee

Bruce Ndlovu, Sunday News Reporter

THE Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education has roped in the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (Zacc) to help fight the practise of charging fees for extra lessons, with teachers liable for a corruption charge should it emerge that they are levying for extra tutorials.

This comes after revelations that in the last school term, some teachers in schools around the country would instruct pupils to face the opposite direction from the rest of their classmates when conducting illegal extra lessons, while others would dismiss those that had not paid from class as they taught those whose parents had forked out the required extra money.

Despite an announcement last month by the Ministry stating that there will be no extra lessons over the school holiday, some schools have gone on to conduct the lessons in defiance of that directive. In a statement towards the end of the last school term, the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education permanent secretary, Ms Tumisang Thabela said the Ministry came to that decision after the realisation that lessons were not interrupted during the term.

She said in the interim pupils can be assigned holiday homework and asked to compile their Continuous Assessment Learning Activities, fully utilising the available alternative learning methods at their disposal. Parents with children who are boarders have been sending their children for extra lessons at local day schools. In 2021 teachers and private tutors were said to be cashing in on extra lessons, charging up to US$40 per subject per month, especially for secondary examination classes as parents and guardians became desperate to make up for lost time, which was caused by the Covid-19 necessitated national lockdown.

In an interview, the Director of Communication and Advocacy in the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education, Mr Taungana Ndoro said the Ministry had roped in Zacc to curb the extra-lesson scourge as the act itself was a chargeable offence, with parents paying for a service that was not receipted or noted down in any records.

“With regards to extra lessons, the Ministry’s position remains clear. Paid extra lessons, particularly during the school term remain illegal and parents and guardians are advised not to continue feeding the beast by continuously paying for these extra lessons as they exacerbate the situation that we are currently facing. This practise of paying for extra lessons is a chargeable offence and an act of misconduct. It is criminal abuse of office and corruption basically which is why we are working together with the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission to curb this scourge,” he said.

Alongside ZACC, Mr Ndoro said that the Ministry was also working with other law enforcement agencies to apprehend teachers charging for extra lessons, while at the same time working on ways to publicise platforms where parents could report errant tutors.

“We are also working with the Zimbabwe Republic Police and other authorities to try and combat this. Parents and teachers should both be held liable under the law for aiding and abetting this form of corruption. The Ministry has put in place platforms on social media where people can report such practise so that action is immediately taken in conjunction with the relevant authorities. Parents can send reports to our WhatsApp, Facebook, Twitter or even to our websites. You can even call our toll-free line, directly to our offices so that we can together tackle this scourge and ensure that all our learners continue to receive quality education and no one, and no place is left behind,” he said.

Mr Ndoro said parents were also at risk of facing corruption charges as they could be deemed to be working hand in hand with teachers that were levying an illegal fee for providing services that they were already paid for.

“The idea of feeding the beast means that parents are complicit in aiding teachers that are demanding illicit payments for extra lessons and in most cases, these teachers end up not doing the job for which they are already paid for, for which they are already on a government salary, for which they are already on a responsible authority’s salary. Therefore, these paid-for extra lessons remain illegal and banned,” he said.

Mr Ndoro said that parents should instead turn-in teachers that were demanding fees for extra lessons to relevant authorities.