admin
Leonard Ncube Court Reporter
PROMINENT Bulawayo lawyer Ndabezinhle Mazibuko has filed a lawsuit against Christian Brothers College (CBC) challenging its “exorbitant” fees and failure to provide textbooks and stationery to pupils.Mazibuko, whose son is doing Form Four at the affluent school in Matsheumhlophe suburb, said he was baffled when he received an invoice for this term’s fees pegged at $1,650, up from $1,575 last term.
He accuses the school of increasing fees willy-nilly without the approval of the National Incomes and Pricing Commission and the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education.
Mazibuko made a court application at the Bulawayo High Court seeking an order compelling the school to provide textbooks and the matter is yet to be set down for hearing.
In his founding affidavit, Mazibuko claims he raised the issue in 2011 at a parents meeting when his other son was still at the school but nothing has been done, despite the majority of parents agreeing with him.
He cites the school, the commission and ministry as first, second and third respondents.
“What baffles and really gets under my skin is that we are paying such a huge amount in fees yet the first respondent doesn’t provide textbooks and stationery for our children,” said Mazibuko.
He accused the school of violating pupils’ rights to education by failing to provide stationery. Mazibuko said he was spending more than $400 on textbooks and stationery.
“This is my ninth year as a parent at the school and I have to spend a fortune on textbooks that a child uses for only one year and then discards or if lucky sell off at a huge loss,” he said.
“I buy textbooks at an average of $400 per year and I believe this is unfair as the school burdens parents every year.”
Mazibuko argued that fees should cover all costs including textbooks and stationery instead of being diverted to salaries, which he said were gobbling 80 percent of the fees.
Mazibuko said other prestigious schools in the city were providing textbooks from the money paid in fees and queried why CBC was the odd one.
He also sought the court order to compel the school to give a term’s notice to a parent of a child who would have defaulted on paying fees.
The case follows another in Gweru where parents dragged Cecil John Rhodes Primary School a few years ago for sending away pupils over non-payment of fees resulting in a landmark judgment by Justice Maphios Cheda.
Mazibuko made reference to Justice Cheda’s judgment, saying the school must not bar pupils from lessons for not paying fees.
Online Reporter