Schools urged not to demand fees 

Herald Reporter

Government has ordered schools not to demand fees until schools reopen, amid reports that some schools have been demanding fees from parents.

Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education spokesperson Mr Taungana Ndoro said the law will take its course against schools enforcing parents to pay fees.

He said so far the ministry had no application for increases and that all applications for fees approval for the 2020 academic year were cleared in 2019.

“All applications for fees approval for the 2020 academic year were cleared in 2019. Currently there are no applications pending for any fees increases. The Government has not approved any new fees structure, but has said that school fees will be paid when schools re-open. The law is very clear that no responsible authority shall charge any fee or levy or increase any fee or levy unless it is approved,” he said.

“The Government shall immediately close schools that defy the order to remain closed and if they continue to open, sterner measures would be taken such as de-registration of the schools or colleges.”

Recently, the reopening of schools for examination classes which was scheduled for July 28 was deferred in light of the rising numbers of confirmed Covid-19 cases.

The deferment by Cabinet was part of measures that include postponement of further opening of economic sectors, localised lockdowns in hotspots and more testing in areas where infections are spiking.

Announcing the deferment of schools reopening after the weekly Cabinet meeting last week, Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services Minister Senator Monica Mutsvangwa said Cabinet had adopted the recommendation of the Ad-Hoc Inter-Ministerial Committee on Covid-19 as part of a tightening of current lockdown measures.

The recommendation was in a report presented by Vice President Kembo Mohadi, the committee chairperson.