SOME private schools have started demanding fees as high as
US$1 000 or more for the Third Term in defiance of a Government directive.
Government has warned that it will soon carry out
investigations to establish schools abusing online learning by charging parents
exorbitant fees for virtual learning.
The Midlands Christian Group of Colleges (MCGC) which runs
Midlands Christian College (MCC), Midlands Christian School (MCS) and Treasure
Trove (TT) in Gweru has asked parents to pay what it refers to as “overhead
fees”.
The group has given parents the option to pay the US$ fees
in local currency using the auction rate which is at ZWL$83,40 to the United
States dollar this week. The amount due for those paying in local currency is
therefore determined by the going rate at the time of paying.
The overhead fees for MCC is US$1 410, MCS is US$910 and TT
is US$400.
In Bulawayo Petra College is demanding US$1 400 and has
also given parents an option to pay the equivalent in local currency using the
interbank rate which translates to more than $115 000.
A parent said another private school, Girls College is
demanding nearly $83 000 “levy” which translates to about US$ 1 000.
The same schools also demanded varying amounts for Second
Term and have already written to parents advising them of the outstanding fees.
The development comes at a time when the Ministry of Primary
and Secondary Education has dismissed as misleading information circulating on
social media to the effect that schools will reopen on September 2.
Schools were prematurely closed in March due to the
Covid-19 threat.
According to the 2020 calendar, schools were supposed to
open on September 8 for the Third Term but given the prevailing Covid-19
situation, this is highly unlikely.
In a bid to force parents to pay outstanding Second Term
fees, some schools have blocked defaulting pupils from accessing online
learning platforms.
This is however, against Government policy which stipulates
that pupils should not be penalised for failure to pay fees which is an
obligation of parents or guardians.
Most parents who spoke to Chronicle said following economic
disruptions as a result of Covid-19, they expected school authorities to be
sensitive to their plight and demand reasonable fees.
They said given that their children were just benefiting
from online learning whose costs to schools are very low, schools were supposed
to drastically reduce fees.
The parents said some of them used to rely on remittances
from relatives abroad but they too have been adversely affected by the Covid-19
pandemic.
They said what has worsened their situation was that most
schools were rejecting payment plans.
In Gweru, MCC has given parents 10 days to pay the fees. MCGC principal director Pastor Daniel Pswarayi said
discussions over the overhead fees were still pending.
“Discussions are underway over the matter and therefore
these figures are still provisional pending finalisation,” he said.
Parents with children attending the group’s schools said
they had been given up to September 8 to pay the fees.
Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education Deputy
Minister, Cde Edgar Moyo said his ministry is investigating schools which are
allegedly charging the “extortionist” Third Term fees.
He said the Government position as announced by Minister
Cain Mathema is that schools remain closed and any fees must be approved by
Government.
Recently, Minister Mathema said private schools that
continue defying Government directives risk being deregistered. Chronicle
0 comments:
Post a Comment