Government speaks on 2nd term school fees
Government has trashed the calls for second term school fees payment as the school opening dates are not yet clear. Primary and secondary education permanent secretary Tamisang Thabela described the school fees request as “premature”.
She revealed that the decision to open schools lies with the Presidium since it was government decision to close them due to the implementation of COVID-19 preventative measures.
This comes as parents receive letters and messages demanding payment of school fees in United States dollars only for term 2 from most private schools.
“There are so many issues which must be looked into before we talk about fees. I think it’s premature for schools to demand fees because we don’t know when schools will open and what is going to happen.
“It is not the ministry which closed schools so we are waiting for President Emmerson Mnangagwa to announce when schools will open after we deal with the coronavirus pandemic,” Thabela said.
The lockdown affected the Zimsec June and November examination registrations despite the exam body introducing online strategies.
Calls to postpone June Examinations
Teachers Unions piled pressure on the government, with Progressive Teachers Union secretary-general Raymond Majongwe saying there was need to postpone the June examinations.
Teachers Unions piled pressure on the government, with Progressive Teachers Union secretary-general Raymond Majongwe saying there was need to postpone the June examinations. He said the examinations must be postponed and pushed forward to October. Majongwe drew similarities of the current situation to war times when some schools only reopened after a 4 year closure. In addition he emphasized on prioritizing teacher and student safety as necessary health precautions must be addressed first.
However, Tamisang Thabela yesterday said her ministry was still assessing the situation. “We work on evidence, we are not prophets, we don’t know what is going to happen in the next weeks,” she said.
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