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“The Ministry of Education is aware of what happened in 2009. The SDC opened its own account and the money disappeared and the head was arrested,” he said.
“We have already approached the ministry and they are aware of the issue concerning the need to raise the fees.”
Bishop Jakazi said some parents aligned to Bishop Gandiya were politicising the issue.
“We have always run the school in a transparent way and we give parents financial statements for inspection to see how we use funds, so they are just trying to politicise this issue,” he said.
But Bishop Gandiya’s spokesperson, Mr Precious Shumba, accused the Bishop Jakazi administration of corruption and failing to run the school.
“The takeover of schools has not escaped the attention of parents and pupils in our schools, including at St Augustine’s Mission,” he said.
Mr Shumba said that the early closure of the school would indicate the insensitivity of those claiming to run it.
Parents are refusing to approve fee hikes from US$333 to about US$498 per term, arguing that the fees they paid were sufficient to pull the school through.
Education, Sport, Arts and Culture Minister David Coltart said the school authorities should ensure that lessons are not disrupted.
“We know that running schools is expensive and costly, but I want to urge the school authorities to engage parents and address this issue so that lessons are not disrupted,” he said.
According to minutes of a meeting held by parents and school authorities in April, parents want the school run by a board of directors aligned to Archbishop Kunonga to establish a Schools Development Committee
before effecting any fees hikes.
“Parents are ready to pay the increased fees as soon as the responsible authority grants them permission to establish the SDC, which oversees management of their funds,” part of the minutes read.
Some parents interviewed, who declined to be named in fear of victimisation of their children, argued that an SDC should be established in terms of statutory instrument 87 of 1992.
“This section compels the school to establish an SDC, which oversees the use of funds. We are ready to pay increased fees as soon as school authorities establish the SDC to oversee funds which we think are being abused,” a parent said.
Another parent said there was suspicion that the establishment of the SDC was viewed as a threat to the interests of the school authorities aligned to Archbishop Kunonga.
The Anglican Church has 31 primary schools and 14 secondary schools in Zimbabwe that have been rocked by problems following the split of the church in 2007.
Since the split, there have been running battles between Archbishop Kunonga and Bishop Gandiya to control the church’s properties.
In August last year, Chief Justice Godfrey Chidyausiku ruled that all Anglican properties in the Anglican Church’s Harare dioceses were under Archbishop Kunonga’s custody.
Online Reporter