The Minister of Primary and Secondary Education, Torirai Moyo, said failure to provide educational support to children and delays in payment of fees by some parents were contributing to the high number of school dropouts, urging parents to play their role in driving infrastructure development in schools.
Speaking in Kwekwe where he recently moderated the cleaning and public consultation meeting, Minister Moyo said some parents are taking advantage of government directives not to send learners away for non-payment of fees to neglect their obligation.
“Most parents no longer pay fees for their children due to government guidelines. No one should take advantage of this opportunity, but you must play your part as a parent and ensure that your child gets everything he needs to learn.
Minister Moyo said some parents were to blame for many learners dropping out of school because they did not provide them with important educational support.
“Those who can, please pay your fees but for those who cannot, the government has provided safety nets such as the Basic Education Assistance Unit (Beam).
“What we want at the end of the day is for the child to have a proper learning environment without any disturbances, and then we must all play our part,” the minister said.
He noted with concern that there was widespread corruption in the selection of Beam beneficiaries, saying that only the beneficiaries were deserving.
Minister Moyo said there are more than 10,000 children who could go to school in Zimbabwe but do not.
“Therefore, we have launched a program to bring these children back to school because we do not want any child to stay at home,” he said.
“Reasons for not going to school include stigma, disability, poverty, and even neglect by parents. We do not want a situation where children end up falling into the drug trap or indulging in social ills including early sexual initiation.” Therefore, the government has made every effort Her effort to ensure that every child goes to school.”
Minister Moyo said a sub-committee led by Deputy Minister of Finance, Economic Development and Investment Promotion, David Koda Mnangagwa, has already facilitated the release of Beam funds owed to schools.
“We have discovered that the government owes school funds dating back to 2022. But I am happy to tell you that the funds have already been disbursed to the relevant ministry to be transferred to the schools. This is to enable the schools to operate efficiently,” he said.
Minister Moyo said schools should also devise fundraising projects to avoid overburdening parents. He said the government pegged tuition fees to the US dollar to protect values but it could be paid in the local dollar equivalent at the prevailing official exchange rate.
“In the hyper-inflationary environment, we had to come up with ways to protect value, so we pegged tuition fees to the US dollar across the country,” he said.
Minister Moyo also said that the days of overstaying school development committees are over. Announce
