Schools warned over fees

PRIMARY and Secondary Education deputy Minister Paul Mavima yesterday reiterated that schools should not send away pupils for not paying tuition fees and levies since doing so would be punishing them for the sins of their parents.Responding to a question from Bulawayo East legislator Tabitha Khumalo in the National Assembly, Mavima said government policy was clear that schools should not send pupils back home over non-payment of fees and levies

“We have clearly indicated that no pupil should be sent back home for non-payment of tuition fees but there have been reports.
“We immediately dispatched our staffers to find for us which schools are sending pupils back for non-payment of fees,” he said.

Mavima said sending away or detaining pupils due to failure of their parents to pay fees was in violation of children’s rights.

“Sending away pupils is a violation of children’s rights as enshrined in the Constitution. What we are asking is the public to help us with information on schools sending pupils back home,” he said.

Legislators raised concern over the way schools were treating pupils whose parents had not paid tuition and levies. They said children of civil servants were the worst affected, following the shifting of pay dates to May 29 this year. The government has also failed to pay fees for 167,000 pupils under the Basic Education Assistance Module (Beam) due to inadequate budgetary allocations and the pull-out of donor assistance. —New Ziana