Scramble for Form One places

next year.
While most State high schools are still accepting pupils for Form One next year, and will wait for the results of the Grade Seven examinations to be written next term, many mission schools set their own entrance exams during the August holidays.
The mission schools are in a dilemma.
If they use some arbitrary method to cut the numbers of place seekers before the exam they will be accused of favouritism; when they allow all who wish to write they are accused of profiteering.
Most of these schools charge a US$20 administrative fee from each pupil who writes their exam. This fee covers the overtime they pay teachers to set, invigilate and mark the exams, plus other smaller administrative costs.
But with well over 1 000 pupils turning up to compete for 100 or so places, some angry parents say the schools are simply fundraising.
But the schools argue that this is the only way to make sure that vacancies go to the best students in a transparent manner.
And it will in turn ensure that the school has a good pass rate when the said students sit for public examinations at a later date.
St Francis of Assisi in Chivhu had over 1 000 hopeful applicants turning up for their entrance test held at Glen Norah High 1 recently.
On the same day they also had an uncertain number of applicants from the southern regions of the country in another group sitting the same test in Gweru.
The school only has vacancies for 100 form ones.
Bradley High School in Madziva held their entrance tests at the same venue for 100 vacancies and had over 2 000 applicants.
Last weekend Mazowe Boys High saw over 2 000 applicants battling for 75 vacancies, with many parents believing they get a much better deal with the mission schools, despite their far higher fees, than they do with the public education system in urban day schools.
Day schools have been plagued by under funding and lack of resources with some being forced to take parents to court or hire debt collectors in order to recover arrears of school fees and levies.
But the stiff competition has bred corruption with school authorities and parents trading accusations of underhand dealings.
A man who refused to be named who took his daughter to Daramombe High School in Chivhu at the close of the second term said some teachers had leaked the test papers to some students for a fee.
But he said that when parents raised the issue the school head actually said that the worst offences were being perpetrated by parents themselves.
He cited cases of some people bringing Form Two students to write the tests on behalf of Grade Seven candidates who may not stand very high chances of qualifying on their own merit.
The trust schools, which also charge a US$20 exam fee, solved some of the problems of parental anger by having all their entrance exams on the same July day, meaning that no parent seeking a place for their child, can apply to more than one school.