Online Reporter
Farirai Machivenyika-Senior Reporter
Some stakeholders in the education sector have called on the Government to scrap the requirement for private colleges to pay an annual US$2 500 registration fee with the Zimbabwe Schools Examinations Council, saying this disadvantaged some learners and infringed on their right to education.
This came out during a public hearing on the Zimbabwe Schools and Council Amendment Bill that is currently before Parliament.
The stakeholders said private colleges that have been on the rise in recent years were playing a big role in augmenting Government efforts in the provision of education due to the shortage of public schools.
“The US$2 500 makes it expensive for some learners to register for examinations. We believe the Government should not discriminate against private colleges,” said Mr Elliott Dzindikwa, who is a director at Trust Academy.
Professor Washington Mahiya of the Association of Independent Colleges of Zimbabwe echoed similar sentiments, saying most of the private colleges were in new settlements that had no publicly-owned schools.
“We believe that the fees should be the same whether it is a Government, council, mission school or private college.
“The colleges are playing a big role, especially in new settlements where there are no Government schools,” he said.
The Government subsidises examination fees for pupils in public or council-owned schools and mission schools, while those in private schools pay the full fees.
Turning to issues of examination security, Ms Tendai Munatsi said the new law should deal harshly with examination cheats.
“I believe the penalty should be increased from the two-year jail term being proposed in the Bill to five years without an option of a fine,” she said.
Zimbabwe Teachers Association, spokesperson Ms Daisy Zambuko, welcomed the creation of the new post of the chief executive officer saying it will promote accountability at ZIMSEC.
“We also propose that instead of hiring private players to distribute examination papers, ZIMSEC should have its own transport to distribute them countrywide as a way of improving security,” she said.
In his remarks, the chairperson of the Parliamentary Committee on Primary and Secondary Education, Cde Supa Mandiwanzira said it is important to strengthen ZIMSEC to improve its credibility.
“Our students who have written ZIMSEC examinations are accepted by international universities in the same way as those who have written Cambridge examinations.
“So, what is needed is to ensure that we make ZIMSEC an examination board of choice regionally and even globally,” Cde Mandiwanzira said.
