New school calendar this week

Bulawayo Bureau

The Government will this week announce a new school calendar that will also determine the new fees structure for the first term, an official has said.

Schools will open on February 7.

According to the school calendar released last year, the first term was initially expected to run from January 10 to April 7.

The second term was envisaged to stretch from May 9 to August 4, while the third term was slated for September 5 to December 1.

Director of communication and advocacy in the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education Mr Taungana Ndoro told our Bulawayo Bureau yesterday that the Government was finalising the new calendar.

“What has been happening now was a lot of background discussions regarding the issue of fees, with the schools submitting their applications for fees increment while they waited for the announcement of the opening day. What will happen now is that the new fees structures will be determined by the school calendar, which our Permanent Secretary will soon be announcing in due course as already our officers are working on it,” he said.

Mr Ndoro said schools should not unilaterally effect increases in fees or levy without approval from the ministry.

“The ministerial position has been clear regarding these tuition fees, in that only those structures approved by the ministry will be considered binding. All these other fees that have been peddled around without any approval are deemed illegal and officials that go ahead will be regarded as defiant and will be dealt with accordingly.”