New regulations for school fees hike

The Government has placed a moratorium on all primary and secondary school fees hikes and enforced new stringent regulations that schools must adhere to before seeking an upward fees variation.
The new regulations announced by Primary and Secondary Education Minister Lazarus Dokora now compel school authorities to submit, along with their usual application letters, audited financial statements from the previous term and a schools development plan.

In addition, school authorities are also directed to produce minutes of the School Development Association annual general meeting approving the fees review. Most Government schools ask for between US$5 and US$30 as tuition fees while levies vary from between US$5 and US$400.

Minister Dokora said the Government had since notified schools of the new fees hike requirements.
“We have, this term, placed a stop on fees and levies increments and (we) are glad that no schools has defied the order,” said Minister Dokora, while making a contribution during the opening of the 22nd Session of the Children’s Parliament in Harare.

“Schools are now required to attach, along with their applications for levies and fees review, audited financial statements for the previous term which show evidence of how money was used. We also require a copy of the school’s development plan, which lays out what individual schools plan to use the extra money for or how the money from previous terms was used.

“Schools need to show and prove that money was used for particular and tangible projects. Furthermore, we need evidence that the school development association held an annual general meeting which gave a green light to the proposed review.”

Following Government’s moratorium on fees hike, elite schools under the Association of Trust Schools (ATS) began charging a non-refundable acceptance fee of US$2 700 for students to be enrolled for Form 1 next year as a way of skirting around the Government directive.

Government recently banned Form One entrance tests arguing that they had become a fund-raising initiative for schools. Schools are now required to enrol Form One pupils on the bas is of their Grade Seven results.