News / National
Zimbabwe mulls free education
17 Jul 2015 at 16:05hrs | Views
The government is considering transforming Basic Education Assistance Module (BEAM) into free education as treasury has not paid for students under this facility for the past two years.
Public Service, Labour and Social Services Minister Prisca Mupfumira made the remarks at the high level workshop on national social protection policy frame work in Victoria Falls.
The failure by government to release funds for students under BEAM is due to liquidity challenges and the facility has not been prioritised in the budget due to limited fiscal space.
Although the facility is free to the children, the issue has continued to put pressure on the government which now relies on donor funding to keep it running.
Minister Mupfumira, however, feels donor dependency is unsustainable.
Delegates have also proposed that government should re-visit education with production concept to ensure students can acquire life skills they can use to help themselves.
Delegates have also agreed failure to support education is not only expensive for the country but marks the beginning of a myriad of social problems that include xenophobia.
Public Service, Labour and Social Services Minister Prisca Mupfumira made the remarks at the high level workshop on national social protection policy frame work in Victoria Falls.
The failure by government to release funds for students under BEAM is due to liquidity challenges and the facility has not been prioritised in the budget due to limited fiscal space.
Although the facility is free to the children, the issue has continued to put pressure on the government which now relies on donor funding to keep it running.
Minister Mupfumira, however, feels donor dependency is unsustainable.
Delegates have also proposed that government should re-visit education with production concept to ensure students can acquire life skills they can use to help themselves.
Delegates have also agreed failure to support education is not only expensive for the country but marks the beginning of a myriad of social problems that include xenophobia.
Source - zbc
