adminNqobile Tshili Chronicle Correspondent
MORE than five million children have benefitted under the government’s Basic Education Assistance Module (Beam) since its inception in 2002.
According to a report compiled by the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare, the Beam initiative provides fees for children whose parents and guardians cannot afford to pay for them.
The committee’s chairperson Cde Goodluck Kwaramba said the beneficiaries had risen sharply over the last four years.
“As the country continues to witness economic turndown, the demand for Beam beneficiaries increased by over 172 percent in the last four years,” said Cde Kwaramba.
“The programme is targeted at children who have never been to school, orphans and other vulnerable children. Since the establishment of Beam in 2002, 5,442, 352 children have benefited from the programme.”
Cde Kwaramba said although there was an increase in the number of pupils requiring their fees to be paid by Beam its funding is dwindling as some sponsors pulled out.
He noted that the Government was also delaying in remitting Beam funds to schools, creating administrative challenges for the institutions.
Cde Kwaramba said some schools were contributing to delays in the allocation of their funds as they changed bank accounts without communicating the changes to the Government.
“The Committee was informed that 78 cases of rejected Beam deposits were recorded in 2013 due to changes of account numbers by schools without notifying the Ministry of Public Service, Labour and Social Services, which delayed remittance of payments,” said Cde Kwaramba.
MDC-T’s MP for Mufakose Ms Paurina Mpariwa said the Government should engage other institutions in trying to mobilise funds for the programme as more people are increasingly failing to raise school fees.
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