Govt pounces on schools rejecting Zimdollar

GOVERNMENT is investigating schools which are reportedly rejecting local currency as a payment for schools, Education deputy minister Edgar Moyo said.

While responding to questions in the National Assembly, Moyo said it was illegal for schools to reject local currency for school fees payment in favour of foreign currency.

Schools opened for the second term last week with parents and guardians raising concerns over sharp increases in fees on the back of the deteriorating economic situation.

"In areas where school heads are refusing to accept the Zimbabwe dollar and preferring the US dollar, that is illegal. I will repeat, if that happens, let the parents get in contact with the district school's inspectors so that corrective measures are taken," Moyo said.

"We are going there to investigate. We are already talking to the Ministry of Finance and the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) on measures to be taken to correct those things.

"That is not allowed not to accept any legal tender in the country. We want to take this opportunity to warn school heads," he said.

Moyo said schools have to comply and government was finding ways to strengthen statutes to ensure total compliance.

"We allowed schools to peg their fees in foreign currency, but if a parent wants to pay in local currency, they use the prevailing interbank rate on the date of payment. Approving the fees being paid in foreign currency does not imply that it is the foreign currency that must be paid and no other currency," Moyo said.

The provision was made to reduce the frequency of applications to raise fees, he said.

"However, in terms of payments, parents can pay using the locally accepted currencies and that is the position," Moyo added.