Chronicle EditorLumbidzani Dima, Chronicle Reporter
THE Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education has said all unregistered schools countrywide must regularise their operations or face closure.
All schools have to be registered with the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education and Zimra and be licensed by the local authority.
In an interview, Primary and Secondary Education Ministry’s communication and advocacy director Mr Taungana Ndoro said all illegal schools have been given a chance to come forward and register if they do not want to be closed.
“Unregistered schools are asked to regularise their registration process immediately otherwise they face closure,” he said.
The given time for registration is meant to minimise the effects on learners studying at the schools, since they would have to find other places if the schools are just closed as the law essentially demands.
Mr Ndoro said they cannot establish or get the statistics of the number of illegal schools in Bulawayo, likening it with seeking to get statistics of thieves.
“It’s like asking how many thieves are in Bulawayo, if the schools are illegal and operating underground we cannot get the statistics,” he said.
Mr Ndoro said unregistered schools pose challenges in terms of adherence to Covid-19 protocols as well as adherence to the Ministry’s competence-based curriculum.
In 2017, a total of 24 illegal schools were shut down in Bulawayo.
At that time the Provincial Education Director, Mrs Olicah Khaira said Government was worried that parents were still sending their children to learn in illegal schools.
She also indicated that unlawful schools were not adhering to education standards and some were conducting lessons in the backyards of their owners.
Then, most of the illegal schools were teaching Early Childhood Development (ECD) classes.
The Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education has started rolling out awareness campaigns in Beitbridge with a view to ending the enrolment of children in unregistered schools.
Beitbridge District Schools Inspector Mr Freedom Mbofholoho Muleya recently said although they were yet to get the exact number of illegal learning institutions, they estimate that there are over 20 such facilities in Beitbridge town alone.
Harare Province has continued to do checks after 448 private schools were caught operating without being registered recently and now all unregistered schools must fix their status and sort out their registration and licensing or be closed at the end of this month.
The unregistered and unlicensed schools and colleges in Harare province cater for 22 569 students.
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