Govt warns schools against fees hike

THE government has warned schools against increasing fees ahead of the start of the 2015 first term in a fortnight.

This comes amid claims that some schools have unilaterally increased their fees.Bulawayo provincial education director Dan Moyo yesterday said the government was the only authority when it comes to hiking of school fees.

"The government, cabinet is the only one that can increase tuition fees. As far as I'm concerned, the cabinet has not authorised any tuition increments," said Moyo.

He said for levies, parents, through the  School Development Association (SDA), can apply for a fee increment from the government.

"The levies are decided by SDAs and we haven't received any application for levies increase. The only applications that have been made are for them to maintain their previous levies," added Moyo.

Parents with children at Empandeni High School said the school has increased its fees by $50 and demanded that it must be paid in full before schools open.

"We used to pay $420 and they increased by $50, we're now supposed to pay $470.  They also declared that the fees should be paid in full before the schools open. They said they won't allow our children to pay for the bus fare without paying the whole fees, defying government's directive that children should not be denied education," said a parent, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Another parent said the school should be reasonable rather than making undesirable demands.

"They can't pretend as if they don't know the current economic situation. It's common knowledge that there is no money in the country but they are making demands as if they are not well versed with what is happening. It's not like we don't want to pay fees. We want the best for our children also," she said.

Efforts to get a comment from Empandeni High School authorities were fruitless.

Matabeleland South provincial educational director Tumisang Thabela said schools were aware of procedures to be followed before effecting any fees increment.

"There should be no school that is different from others. If they want to increase their fees they should first apply to do so," said Thabela.
Last year, the government banned schools from sending home pupils over fees saying doing so was in violation of their Constitutional rights.

The government further said it was not the child's obligation to pay fees as schools enter into agreements with parents.