Online Reporter
Rutendo Nyeve, [email protected]
THE Government is targeting to register 200 satellite schools each quarter of 2026 in order to regularise learning institutions and resolve longstanding administrative bottlenecks that have hampered education delivery.
Minister of Primary and Secondary Education, Torerai Moyo confirmed the development saying this is part of the Second Republic’s commitment to transforming the education sector under the National Development Strategy II (NDS2).
The registration blitz forms part of the ministry’s key result areas, building on a successful 2025 campaign during which more than 800 schools were formally registered.
Minister Moyo said the accelerated programme seeks to address challenges facing satellite institutions, including lack of substantive headmasters and examination centres.
“The policy states that satellite schools cannot have substantive headmasters because there will be a headmaster at the mother school who will head both the mother school and the satellite school,” he said.
“The one who would be heading the satellite is called the acting headmaster. To resolve this issue, we are urgently registering these satellite schools.
“With NDS2, which we launched in January this year, we are promising that 200 schools will be registered every quarter of 2026. By year end, most satellite schools will be operating independently with examination centres and their own substantive headmasters and challenges will be lessened.”
Minister Moyo acknowledged that bureaucratic delays have historically slowed the registration process. To counter this, the ministry will decentralise registration functions from head office to provincial levels.
“Registration of schools is part of our key result areas. The reason why it is taking so long is that some people delay approaching the district office, then when the district office visits the school, they will then process the application forms,” he said.
Minister Moyo said there are two stages for the ministry to register a school with the first stage being to apply for the establishment of a school while the second stage is the application to register a school.
“I am aware there might be some bottlenecks, which is why we want to embrace the new policy of decentralisation so that instead of the registration process being done at head office, it should be done at the provincial level. That is one way of expediting the registration process,” he said.
Education stakeholders have bemoaned the inefficiencies of satellite schools and believe formal registration will improve quality assurance, resource allocation, and learner performance.
The move aligns with Vision 2030 aspirations of an empowered and educated upper-middle-income society.
