adminWhile we appreciate the fact that a lot of parents are facing financial difficulties as a result of an under-performing economy, it is high time parents and guardians went an extra mile to help Government.
There is no doubt that there are some parents and guardians who can sacrifice to pay the fees being charged at universities, technical and teachers’ colleges. But some are just choosing to have their children enrol under the Government’s Cadetship Scheme. The same is true under the Basic Education Module Assistance, which seeks to help pupils in primary and secondary schools. Government’s initiative to cushion the less privileged members of society is commendable but we feel some people are just abusing these safety nets when they should be paying for their children.
We understand almost everyone is weighed down by economic hardships but surely every parent wants the best for their child. And that best can only be provided if we make the necessary sacrifices. A lot of the parents with children now in university, technical college or teachers’ college are those that benefited immensely from the heavily subsidised education system introduced by the Government soon after independence.
A lot of us went to primary, secondary schools and tertiary institutions under this system and paid close to nothing for an excellent standard of education. A good number did not even repay the loans that the State was providing to tertiary students under its grants/loans scheme.
Government was then able to provide such subsidies, which in this day and age are no longer possible. Is it not now our turn dear Zimbabweans to also chip in and help the Government that helped us to be where we are today? Surely Government can only do so much given the challenges it is facing of running a country and providing services to an economy trudging under a ruinous sanctions regime. The sanctions were imposed on us after some of the very people who were sent to school up to university level by Government went around the globe inviting the crippling embargo upon us.
Our argument is simply that those who can afford please let’s pay for our children’s education and leave Government programmes such as the Cadetship Scheme and BEAM to cater for the poor who cannot afford to raise the fees being demanded by the tertiary institutions.
We also urge the tertiary institutions to allow parents and guardians to make payment plans. Most parents and guardians are sacrificing to take their children through the primary and secondary schools. Some even pay school fees, which are way above what the State universities and colleges are charging. The majority of boarding schools in this country are charging fees of between $400 and $600 per term and parents are foregoing a lot of other things to see their children through these boarding schools.
Why then do these same parents think that their obligation stops at secondary school. They should make the sacrifice right up to university, technical college or teachers’ college. We bet that there are quite a number of thousands of parents and guardians of the 33 568 students who are under the Cadetship Scheme who can pay for their children but are just taking advantage of the scheme and overburdening the State.
Online Reporter