Sunday News
Deputy News Editor
17 May 2009
CONFUSION reigned in primary schools across the country last week as school heads demanded that parents pay US$15 as fees for writing grade seven examinations while the Zimbabwe School Examinations Council (Zimsec) insisted that this year’s fees had been scrapped.
Most of the schools had set May 20 as the deadline with Avondale Primary School in Harare insisting that the examination fees be paid by May 20.
School heads called for comment maintained that they had not received official communication either from Zimsec or the Ministry of Education, Sports, Art and Culture to that effect.
Zimsec spokesperson Mr Ezekiel Pasi said while the Minister of Education, Sports, Art and Culture Senator David Coltart had earlier this year announced that grade seven pupils where now required to pay examination fees, he later announced that no fees would be required for one to sit for grade seven examinations.
He said Zimsec was in the process of communicating with grade seven examination centres about the scrapping of the examination fees. An official from the Ministry of Education, Sports and Culture confirmed that the grade seven examination fees have been scrapped and said communication was yet to be sent out to schools.
Some parents had raised questions on why schools insisted on payment of the scrapped fees after Minister Coltart’s announcement.
Mr Pasi has indicated that this year’s June Ordinary and Advanced level examinations are still on with a revised fee structure. Both levels would attract US$10 per subject as examination fees instead of the previously announced US$15 per subject.
He said the deadline for the June examinations, which had been set at May 15, had been moved to June 15. Those who had already paid the US$15 per subject will be refunded the balance.
Results of last year’s June and November Ordinary and Advanced level examinations are yet to be released, leaving observers wondering how the examination authority would cope with new examinations while there are still outstanding results.
Meanwhile, some Harare high density schools have been sending pupils away demanding that they pay outstanding first term fees which have been reviewed by Sen Coltart.
Pupils in Mufakose on Friday found school gates locked with school authorities demanding that they pay outstanding fees of amounts ranging from US$85 to US$100.
Government recently slashed school fees to between US$5-US$20 and backdated the new fees to last term. Minister Coltart was quoted in the news explaining that those who had paid the previously announced fees of between US$20 and US$250 would have the fees credited to the next terms’ fees.
Some parents have accused school development associations and school heads of milking parents through unreasonable levies.