Parliamentarians (today) Wednesday vowed to push Minister of Primary and Secondary Education, Professor Paul Mavhima to ensure that pupils are not send away over non-payment of school fees by communicating the government position to all schools across the country.
Addressing journalists in Harare, Parliamentary Portfolio Committee Chairperson on Women and Youth Affairs, Priscilla Misihairabwi-Mushonga appealed to Mavhima to send a circular to all schools clarifying the issue so that pupils are not send away for non-payment of fees.
“We have told Tag a Life International (TaLI) to draft for us the circular with all the things that they want so that there is no legal problem with interpretation of the circular, once that is done we will take it up to the minister and do a follow up
“We also agreed that they will draft the realignment of the Children’s Act to the constitution, they will come back to us whether it is just in terms of coming up with overall of the Children’s Act or they are asking for amendments in the Children’s Act,
“So we are waiting for that, given the fact that we have a new dispensation that says within 100 days they have to deliver something, so we will push for it to be delivered in the next 100 days,” explained Misihairabwi.
The meeting held by TALI was a follow up of the Every Child in School Campaign (ECIS) launched last year to pressure the government to urgently restore the legacy of education in Zimbabwe.
Nyaradzo Mashayamombe, TaLI’s Executive Director told 263Chat that the draft of the proposed circular was ready to be sent to the parliamentarians for onward submission to the minister.
“The proposed draft of the circular is ready to be sent to the parliamentarians and we have put in the amendments,
“We proposed that Schools should not forfeit places of children in the event that the parents do not have the required enrollment fees and to include enrollment of all children with or without school fees,
“As per Government policy, no child should be refused enrollment in schools for non-payment of fees and levies. This should include children who have dropped out of school and would now want to re-enroll. If parents or guardians do not have the required fees and levies at enrollment stage, parents and school authorities should agree on a payment plan after the child is already enrolled in school,” said Mashayamombe.
According to the Education Sector Strategic Plan 2016-2020, 6% of primary and 20.6% of secondary school children are not in school, the major cause of the decrease in enrollment relates to fees challenges.
Tuition and levies remain a major impediment to many children despite the government policy that no child should be excluded from school for non-payment of fees.
