adminThandeka Moyo Chronicle Correspondent
THE Permanent Secretary for the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education, Mrs Constance Chigwamba, yesterday said schools have the right to sue over unpaid school fees.Speaking during the presentation of the Secretary’s Merit Award to Solusi Primary School, Mrs Chigwamba said schools should not send pupils away over non-payment of fees as that is the responsibility of parents who would have entered into an agreement with the school.
“Sending away pupils for non-payment of fees is unacceptable.
Rather school authorities should take defaulting parents to court if they fail to stick to payment arrangements,” said Mrs Chigwamba. “This does not mean schools authorities and School Development Committees can misuse funds because parents are also in a position to take them to court for any misuse of funds.
“I therefore encourage parents to pay school fees on time to avoid the inconveniences,” she said.
The Seventh-Day Adventist (SDA) Church run school was awarded the prize in recognition of its outstanding performance in the primary schools category in Matabeleland South province.
The school obtained 88 percent pass rate in last year’s Grade Seven examinations, a record it has maintained since 2002. Mrs Chigwamba said the thrust of Government was to promote quality education and urged schools to complement such efforts by prioritising e-learning in their development plans.
“The Ministry awards the Secretary’s Merit Award to schools that have made tangible efforts to provide classrooms and school libraries as well as e-learning opportunities for learners from Early Childhood Development (ECD) level up to Advanced level.
“I would like to applaud the Seventh-Day Adventist Church for being committed to quality education and we hope this award will motivate them to work harder,” she said.
SDA West Zimbabwe Conference education director Pastor Gilbert Dube said the school has brought pride to the church, whose vision was also to promote development of an educated community.
“This is a big day for all SDA members in Zimbabwe because the school has put us on the spotlight. Achieving quality education is part of our vision as a conference, which is to be a model of Adventists standards in all we do,” said Pastor Dube.
The school head, Mr Dickson Ngwenya, said the school managed to excel despite having many pupils who walk long distances to and from school.
“I would like to express my gratitude to the teachers and the Solusi community for their work in landing us this award. We can boldly say we are one of the first to have a resource centre for the disabled who have also performed well in their examinations.
“However, some of our pupils still walk long distances to and from school and we hope this will be addressed so that we excel,” said Mr Ngwenya.
Solusi Adventist Primary School was established in 1912 and has an enrolment of 351 pupils. In 2008 the school’s Grade Seven pass rate was at 90 percent and rose to 92 in 2009, decreased to 88 in 2010 before it went up to 90 percent in 2011.
The school recorded 89,1 percent passrate in 2012.
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