Zanu PF threat to criminalise those too poor to pay school fees is a bad wolf bully tactic

It is intolerable that this regime has destroyed Zimbabwe's economy forcing millions of our people into a life of abject poverty. It is absolutely criminal that the regime is now seeking to turn the real victims of its misrule into criminals because they are too poor to pay their children school fees.

"Parents have a responsibility to take care of their children because it's you who gave birth to these children. I don't remember saying education is for free," education minister, Lazarus Dokora said recently.

"Take that list of parents who don't want to pay to the magistrate's court so that they are called one by one and swear to God that they will pay the fees. You cannot blame the headmasters for that."

Zimbabwean parents, as a rule, have been very response and have willingly made great sacrifices so that their children get a good education. The country's economic situation with its nauseating unemployment rates of 90% plus and high cost of living has left many parents hard push to provide one decent meal a day for the family. For many families it has come to choosing between paying school fees or starve.

The standards of Zimbabwe's education service have fallen to unacceptable levels over the years. A year ago 82% of those who wrote their "O" levels passed five subjects or more because of the chronic under funding by government.  The few who have made into to the various institution of higher education have all been thrown on the unemployed mountain; making many question the value of education and all the time and resources spent to get it.

It is totally intolerable that so many of our people are having to choose between educating their children and starving. Choosing education has become a disappointing choice because the of the substandard quality of education on offer with little prospect of landing a decent job even for the few who soldier to the bitter end. What is heart-breaking is all these problems are a result of decades of misrule by this Zanu PF government.

The regime's attempt to turn the table on the parents, the victim of its misrule, and criminalise them if they should fail to pay the school fees is nothing but the pre-emptive bad wolf tactic drinking upstream blaming the sheep downstream of fouling the water!

We in the Zimbabwe Social Democrats condemn all this relentless bullying and tormenting of innocent by this tyrannical Zanu PF regime. We are sickened by it all!