The Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education has ordered private schools to revert back to approved school fees and levies. The government warned the private schools against increasing school fees without permission from the authorities and threatened legal sanctions against the schools.
Below is the statement released by the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education Tumisang Thabela which iHarare is publishing in its entirety.
The Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education would like to advise its valued stakeholders that non-Government schools which are increasing fees and charging levies without consulting parents or getting permission from the Ministry’s Permanent Secretary will attract severe penalties.
The Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education therefore, warns all Responsible Authorities to ensure they charge approved fees and levies.
Section 21 of the Education Act (Chapter 25:04) as amended, provides that:
“(1) No responsible authority shall—
(a) charge any fee or levy; or
(b) increase any fee or levy;
in respect of any pupil attending a non-Government school, unless the fee or levy or increase therein, as the case may be, has been approved by the Secretary.
The Permanent Secretary shall not approve any increase of fees or levies sought in respect of the next term of the non- Government school concerned unless — (a) the increase of such fees and levies are justified by reference to some basis other than the application of the consumer price index; and
(b) the proposal to increase fees or levies has been approved by a majority of the parents at a meeting of the School Parents Assembly attended by not less than twenty per centum of the parents.” From the above quoted sections of the Education Act, any fees and levies charged by all non-Government schools should be approved by the Secretary for Primary and Secondary Education. It is worth noting that non-compliance with this law is a criminal offence as provided for in terms of Section 21 subsection (6) which provides that:
“Any person who contravenes this section or fails to comply with any notice in terms of subsection (5) shall be guilty of an offence and liable to a fine equivalent to the excess amount charged or imprisonment for a period not exceeding six months or to both such fine and such imprisonment.”
It is, therefore, imperative that Responsible Authorities follow proper procedures highlighted above in increasing fees and levies.
Schools that had charged unapproved fees and levies should revert back to approved fees and levies and reimburse parents accordingly.
The Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education continues to strive to provide quality, relevant, inclusive, equitable and wholesome education for all Zimbabweans.
MRS TUMISANG THABELA
SECRETARY FOR PRIMARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION
