The Chronicle
15 October 2012
A TOTAL of 4 000 disadvantaged pupils will be able to sit for Ordinary and Advanced Level examinations starting towards the end of this month after Government paid US$1,1 million for the students.
The Zimbabwe School Examinations Council (Zimsec) had threatened to bar 16 000 Ordinary Level and Advanced Level pupils supported under the Basic Education Assistance Module (BEAM) from writing the public examinations over Government delays in paying fees.
But Labour and Social Services executive assistant director Mrs Fortunate Zengenene said Government recently paid US$1 185 243 to enable the pupils to write examinations.
Zimsec recently said the disadvantaged pupils had until yesterday to register for the examinations. We commend Government for the swift action in ensuring the pupils write their examinations. We also hail Government for directing schools not to bar pupils with outstanding tuition fees and levy from writing public examinations.
Education, Sport, Arts and Culture Minister David Coltart has said no pupil should be prevented from writing public examinations for failing to pay tuition fees and levies. School authorities should heed the call by the Government and allow the pupils to write the examinations. Minister Coltart’s suggestion for schools to withhold results for defaulting pupils until they pay is reasonable.
The BEAM programme and the cadetship programme for students at universities and other institutions of higher learning have shown Government’s commitment to ensuring every Zimbabwean has access to education. But the programmes have been hamstrung by under-funding and we call upon the Ministry of Finance to prioritise education. Most people holding positions of authority in Government today, from politicians (the ministers) and bureaucrats (senior civil servants), in the ministries benefited from Government’s education for all policy, which it implemented soon after independence. Under the policy, education right up to university level was heavily subsidised by Government. Such heavy subsidies are no longer possible these days because of mounting responsibilities for Government. But we expect the politicians and bureaucrats serving in the inclusive Government to at least spare a thought for the poor pupils and help them to access education. In fact it is every Zimbabwean’s right to have access to education.
The Ministry of Higher and Tertiary Education has been criticising the Ministry of Finance for delaying paying universities and other institutions of higher learning fees for students under the cadetship programme. This compromises the institutions’ capacity to offer services. The same goes for Zimsec, if examination fees are not paid on time, conducting the public examinations will be difficult because of inadequate funding. It is in this vein that we congratulate Government for the timely intervention to help pupils under BEAM. The same urgency should be applied with regards to the cadetship programme.
Government has come up with several noble safety net programmes ranging from the Aids levy, food for work, farming inputs programmes, BEAM and now the cadetship programme for students in tertiary institutions. But a good number of these programmes are beset with problems of under-funding or getting their priorities wrong. Government must go out of its way to make sure such programmes are adequately funded and getting their priorities right so that they save their intended purpose.