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To All Heads and Chairmen of
ATS member schools
This email is designed to
update schools on the most recent developments in regard to school closures, fee
increase applications etc. At the time
of writing several heads and board members have been detained in police cells;
yet others have been required to attend police stations and have made warned and
cautioned statements; all of these actions apparently pursuant to charges under
the Education Act in respect of fees.
Everything possible is being done to support and advise these
colleagues. A number of ATS schools have
re-opened having been cleared to do so by Ministry following signature by the
schools of "acceptance certificates".
A small ATS / CHISZ
delegation was finally able to meet with the Permanent Secretary and several of
his colleagues this morning. Neil Todd /
the ATS office is now working with ministry officials to establish the exact
status of all member schools in regard to compliance with the most recent
directives and in order that schools which remain closed can be re-opened. This matter is extremely urgent, not only
because of the prejudice being suffered but because we have been advised by the
Permanent Secretary that the deadline for compliance is tomorrow, Friday 7 May
and not 14 May as reported in the Herald and as indicated by the Minister during
his meeting with parent representatives.
We have been advised that failure to comply before the expiry of the
deadline will lead to a "different administrative course of action" which is
understood to mean the government "takeover" of schools which remain
"incompliant".
Can schools who have not yet
re-opened or have not yet been offered the opportunity to sign an "acceptance
certificate" please contact their PED and / or the Ministry immediately to
establish their current status; please also advise the ATS office. In essence, the acceptance certificates
indicate that schools accept that their fees should not exceed the level
approved by Ministry and that they will remain at this level for the remainder
of 2004. It appears that in the case of
schools which have been notified of approved fee levels for first term 2004 that
this is the fee applicable and in the case of other schools, fees may yet be
awaiting determination by Ministry based on applications for increases over and
above those applicable to third term 2003.
Boards of member schools are
of course entitled to decide how best to proceed, perhaps based on advice
received, and this applies both to the signing [or not] of "acceptance
certificates" and to legal action. The
ATS advises that schools should sign these certificates as the only practical
present means of being permitted to re-open but that they should submit to PEDs
and Ministry letters indicating their sincere desire and intention, on behalf of
and pursuant to a mandate from parents, to enter into negotiations in good faith
for possible further adjustments to fees.
The ATS is continuing to seek legal advice and urges member schools not
to allow themselves to be co-opted into processes of legal action which may have
motivations different from the immediate school fees / closures issue. Member schools are of course autonomous and
may choose to take legal action on their own behalf including the seeking of
injunctive relief.
Meetings have been held
involving parents and representatives of PTAs and PLCs from several member
schools. A small committee was appointed
and met on 5 May with Minister Chigwedere.
The substance of the discussion and statements made by the Minister were
reported back to parent representatives at a further meeting last night. These may be summarised as follows
:
· Government will not tolerate
the continuing defiance of private schools in seeking to exceed approved fee
increases
· Should schools fail to
comply with the Ministry's directives by Friday 14 May [NB : Perm Sec advises
this should be 7 May] by signing the acceptance document, Government will
take over these schools forthwith - they will be nationalised. Will take 3 - 5 years to apply to get back
ownership / running of school
· Parents must not fear as
government will take over - don't worry about time lost - August holidays
shorter, no half term weekend
· Private schools registered
conditionally - temporary licence given by government
· Government not responsible
for closure of schools, merely not allowed to open
· expecting legal action and
loop holes to be exploited and these will be closed immediately. Court orders will be defied - schools will
not open on legal action
· one increase per annum -
applications to be submitted by 31 October and response by 30 November. Spoke extensively of 10% allowance - if
above, will entertain application
· Donations will not be
permitted, all levies will be policed
· Not fighting intransigence
but racism. Fee hikes racist measures to
throw out blacks - "racist war"
· Pupil and staff ratios
minimum of 60% black. Spoke about racial
composition of Boards / ATS and CHISZ - only meet with whites - where are the
blacks?
· Informers in school, know
how dissatisfied parent body are. "Sad
year for you all" - elections next year and there are constituents out there who
show us receipts and complain - these are votes for us.
· Boards must have one
government rep
· Government grant allows 20:1
pupil staff ratio
During the meeting with the
Perm Sec this morning, we were advised that fee increases needed to be
"reasonable" in the context of the present economic environment given poor
harvests. During discussion on the issue
of negotiation he made it clear that whereas there was a general right to appeal
decisions made by ministry in fixing school fees, in all cases Ministry had
addressed itself to all the circumstances and in fixing fees at levels below
those applied for had determined that there was "excessive fat". It was very clear that Ministry have been
alarmed by the level of increase in fees implemented or applied for by some
schools and there is no doubt that in failing to follow consistent previous ATS
advice, some of our members have made rods for our backs by having fallen way
behind inflation during past years.
There are obviously serious
implications for schools signing acceptance certificates, thereby pegging fees
at levels below, and in some cases very considerably below, those which they had
contemplated charging for second term 2004; not to speak of the "over charge" in
respect of the first term. The
considerable reduction in revenue which flows from this position has serious
consequences for schools, some of which may render themselves insolvent almost
immediately and facing extreme difficulties in relation to possible contractual
and other commitments to staff and suppliers.
All schools must urgently take steps to make parents aware and consult
with them in regard to measures which will need to be taken in order that
schools can operate on such lower revenue bases. Thereafter, and with very explicit parental
support, schools should consider approaching the authorities to discuss possible
fee adjustments based on proven and reasonable costs necessary to sustain the
level of service required by parents.
The Government perception is
that in our Trust schools parents are insufficiently involved in the decision
making processes including the setting of service delivery standards, staff
pupil ratios, development expenditure, budgets and fees. Schools should revisit their structures and
must in particular ensure that parents are fully informed and consulted in
regard to the chosen way forward for each school as it relates to cost
structures and revenue generation.
Please keep the ATS office, Neil Todd and David Long fully informed of your situation. Our objective is to get children back into school with the least possible further disruption and thereafter to seek fair and durable solutions to this issue. We remain committed to the dialogue and consultation process based on mutual respect and honesty.
Yours
sincerely