Chronicle EditorSukulwenkosi Dube-Matutu, Chronicle Reporter
SOME schools and teachers in rural areas have adopted extra lessons which have been declared illegal as a way of bringing pupils up to speed with their lessons.
Extra lessons have been commonly conducted in urban areas but they seem to be gaining momentum in rural areas.
Some teachers were allegedly conducting the illegal lessons during the school holidays while some schools are charging parents an additional levy for pupils to attend extra lessons at their schools over the weekends.
The Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education has warned schools and teachers against continuing to demand extra fees and incentives from parents and guardians in order to teach their children, saying such practice is illegal.
Teachers in many schools across the country have been reportedly charging varying amounts for additional fees per child a month to offer extra lessons.
When schools opened this year, teachers went on strike resulting in many resorting to extra lessons.
Ward 5 councillor in Bulilima District, Promise Masibi said there was a school in her area which had increased its school fees from R200 to R270 to cater for extra lessons which pupils were attending over the weekends.
“We knew that extra lessons were offered in urban areas but now they are being conducted in some schools. There is a school in my area which is offering extra lessons to pupils over the weekends. The school authorities indicated that the learners are behind and in order for them to catch up they need to attend extra lessons,” she said.
“This term the school increased its school fees from R200 to R270 and they indicated that part of the money was meant to cater for the extra lessons. The parents don’t have an option as they want their children to catch up on lessons.”
A village head from Nhwali area in Gwanda, Mr Msizi Nyoni said a teacher from his area started conducting extra lessons last year during the prolonged school holidays. He said many parents responded by sending their children to him as they were desperate.
Mr Nyoni said their area has poor network connection which had made it difficult for children to access radio lessons during the prolonged holiday.
“Parents who could afford to pay for the extra lessons saw this as a relief as they wanted their children to learn. However only a few could afford. This meant that the bulk of children couldn’t attend extra lessons or access radio lessons,” he said.
Mr Nyoni said this was a situation which has left the rural child further disadvantaged. He said in the past, extra lessons were confined to urban areas but they are also taking root in rural areas. Mr Nyoni said he also learnt that in neighbouring villages some teachers that are resident within the community were also offering extra lessons.
Ward 14 councillor in Gwanda, Mr Phineas Maphosa said some teachers were also offering extra lessons in his area.
The director of communication and advocacy in the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education Mr Taungana Ndoro last week said incentives remain illegal and schools that continue victimising desperate parents will be punished.
On Wednesday last week some parents in Bulawayo reported that their children were not being taught after they failed to pay a fee of US$10 to a Grade 7 teacher at a local primary school. Disgruntled parents said the demands by teachers have negatively impacted children whose parents cannot afford them as their children are not receiving lessons. The practice is said to be rampant in public schools whose teachers are paid by Government. — @DubeMatutu
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