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Sukulwenkosi Dube-Matutu, Matabeleland South Bureau Chief
PRIMARY and Secondary Education Deputy Minister Edgar Moyo has warned people against operating unregistered schools, saying such facilities risk being shut down while their owners face arrest and prosecution.
All schools have to be registered with the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education and Zimra and be licensed by the local authority.
zimra
Lately, there has been a craze across the country of people illegally operating schools, taking advantage of the demand for learning facilities. Some houses are also being turned into schools and attracting mostly learners interested in the informal system.
Deputy Minister Moyo said the ministry has since directed education inspectors across the country to be on the lookout for schools and colleges operating without Government licences.
“Government under the Second Republic has created a conducive environment for private players to invest in various sectors including the education sector, but all has to be done through the legal route. Those wishing to establish learning centres have to apply for authority,” he said.
“If the land belongs to the council, the applicant has to go through the local authority and then the district education office. From there the application will proceed to the provincial education office and then the head office.”
Deputy Minister Moyo said in terms of the Education Act Chapter 25:04 as amended in 2020 Amendment 9 Sub-section 18, owners including parents registering their children at unregistered colleges, ECD and infant schools will be prosecuted.
“We will be on the lookout for facilities that are opened without going through the relevant process and they will be shut down and the owners including parents and guardians will be handed over to the law enforcement agents,” he said.
Deputy Minister Moyo urged all facilities to ensure that their operations are regularised.
He implored community members to report any illegal learning facilities operating in their localities.
Deputy Minister Moyo said all schools, including private ones, are administered under the Education Act and are required to adhere to the set standards.
“There are a lot of factors that are considered for one to operate a school and these include issues to do with space, location of the school, size of the classrooms, and ablution facilities among other things,” he said.
“We have also noted that some of these learning facilities engage teachers that are not qualified. Parents should therefore be wary of such people who dupe them into enrolling their children in such bogus facilities.”
Last year a blitz was conducted in Bulawayo where a number of bogus colleges were shut down. In 2017, a total of 24 illegal schools were shut down in Bulawayo. At that time the then Provincial Education Director, Mrs Olicah Khaira said Government was worried that parents were still sending their children to learn in illegal schools.
She also indicated that unlawful schools were not adhering to education standards and some were conducting lessons in the backyards of their owners. -@DubeMatutuernme
Online Reporter