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Pamela Shumba, Senior Reporter
PRIMARY and Secondary Education Minister Dr Lazarus Dokora has urged single-sex schools to consider enrolling both girls and boys as the Government steps up efforts to ease the high demand for Form One places.
Speaking in an interview on Star FM on Tuesday night, Dr Dokora said he was encouraging some single-sex schools to consider taking both girls and boys to make life easier for parents who struggle to secure Form One places for their children.
“We have a number of schools which have not managed to fill their places because they only take boys or girls.
“Last year we urged Plumtree High School to incorporate girls and I’m happy that the school has over 150 girls. It was always a boys’ school from the colonial times but efforts have been made to open up spaces for girls,” said Dr Dokora.
He said he had also spoken to Usher Girls’ High and Cyrene Boys’ High schools for them to consider enrolling both genders.
“These established schools have an opportunity and the capacity to open up for boys or girls because they’re established,” said Dr Dokora.
This development comes at a time when Government recently introduced the electronic application system for Form One pupils intending to go to boarding schools.
The ministry said the online application system is expected to bring efficiency and transparency to the admission process.
Dr Dokora said the electronic registration process, which some parents say is not user-friendly, will continue to improve with time.
He said the ministry has also put in place measures to increase the number of students that sit for Ordinary Level examinations, by ensuring that examination fees are paid in instalments when the candidates are in Form Three.
“I want the O-Level candidates to pay in instalments when they’re still in Form Three so that there is no pressure on the parents.
“I’m trying to protect the children. That’s the mandate I was given by President Mugabe, to improve access to education. Now that we’ve implemented the new curriculum, no country can compare its education system with ours, even in the large part of the Third World,” said Dr Dokora.
— @pamelashumba1
Online Reporter