Zimbabwe to decentralise school registration

The Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education plans to decentralise the registration of schools, allowing provincial offices to handle the process, in a bid to address the growing number of unregistered institutions operating illegally across the country.

Minister Torerayi Moyo said the move is aimed at ensuring that private school operators fully comply with national education standards while supporting the government's efforts to bridge the national school deficit, currently estimated at 1,900 to 2,000 schools.

Responding to questions in the Senate on Thursday, Minister Moyo said: "The major challenge is that some of these schools are not registered and are operating illegally. However, private schools are necessary because, as a country, we have a shortage of schools. So we are encouraging individuals who want to operate schools to do so, but they must do so within the confines of the law. As Government, we are working on ensuring that we decentralise the registration of schools from the head office to provincial offices."

The government has set 31 December 2025 as the final deadline for closure of all unregistered schools that fail to regularise their operations in accordance with national education regulations.

This policy is expected to improve oversight, enhance education quality, and ensure equitable access to learning facilities nationwide.