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Govt sets fees for private schools
The Herald (Zimbabwe)
December 05, 2006

http://www1.herald.co.zw/inside.aspx?sectid=12225&cat=1&livedate=12/05/2006

GOVERNMENT has set new school fees and levy structures for all the 61 private schools in Zimbabwe for January next year and threatened forfeiture to the State any extra money charged on pupils, while the school authorities would be jailed for periods not exceeding six months if the directive is defied.

But the announcement is likely to torch another impasse with the Association of Trust Schools, an umbrella body grouping private schools.

In a clear challenge of the ministerial directive, chairman of the association Mr Jameson Timba said members would use the law as a guide in arriving at fees levels.

"Members of the trust schools will be guided in determining their fees by the law," he said.

At least 14 schools — among them Girls College of Bulawayo, Arundel, Chisipite Senior, St George's College, (all Harare) Lomagundi College (Chinhoyi), Peterhouse Boys and Girls (Marondera) — have been allowed to charge $509 858 for the first term of next year.

Day scholars at the same schools who do not have meals at school would pay $152 957 while those who have meals at the school canteens would pay $203 943.

Weekly boarders at the same schools would be charged $419 883.

Fees for day schools have also been set with those charging the highest fees allowed to demand $96 021 while the lowest fees in that category of schools would be $40 542.

Going into the third term, some schools had increased their fees by between 150 and 200 percent, resulting in parents having to fork out as much as $900 000.

A survey by The Herald in August showed that private boarding schools had almost doubled their fees and were demanding between $300 000 and $900 000.

Chisipite Senior Boarding School had its fees raised from $245 000 to $686 000.

St George's College increased its boarding fees to $320 000, up from $255 000, while fees for Gateway High School rose from $152 000 to $248 000.

Lomagundi College was the most expensive as it was demanding $910 000 followed by Chisipite at $686 000.

The Minister of Education, Sport and Culture, Cde Aeneas Chigwedere, announced the new fees structure at a Press conference in Harare yesterday.

He said the Government intervention was meant to protect parents against exploitation.

"The Education Act makes the course of action very clear (in cases of defiance). We can fine the school, can imprison the authorities for periods not exceeding six months. We also have authority to make them forfeit the overcharge," said Cde Chigwedere.

He said Government and mission schools would continue to apply for approval to review their school fees and levy.

He said the Government had always believed that education should be accessible and affordable to the majority of people.

"In an effort to ensure this accessibility and affordability, Government has amended the Education Act to provide for, inter alia, the use of CPI (Consumer Price Index) as an objective measure of calculating fee and levy adjustments," he said.

Cde Chigwedere said the Government had to set the fees and levy structures to make education affordable.

"Regrettably, some schools have been observed to hike their fees and levies excessively, placing themselves beyond the reach of many schoolchildren," he said.

The setting of the fees and levy structures is expected to bury the feud that has existed between the Government and the schools.

Cde Chigwedere said the problem arose after the schools began to see themselves more as business concerns that had to make profit.

He also said the announcement of the fee and levy structures by the Government would help as the institutions have a tendency of announcing their fees towards the opening of schools and would go to court for the duration of the whole term.

At the weekend, President Mugabe said the steep fee increases at private schools were making them exclusive to children from rich families.

The announcement of the new fees comes in the wake of a failed legal challenge at the High Court by the private trust schools to bar the Government from interfering with their fees and levies.

The schools have since appealed to the Supreme Court.

High Court judge Justice Antonia Guvava dismissed the schools' application, saying they had adopted a wrong procedure by approaching the court before appealing to Cde Chigwedere for redress against the decision by the Secretary for Education, Sport and Culture, Dr Stephen Mahere, as provided by the Education Act.

In her ruling, Justice Guvava said the relief sought by the schools required the court to usurp the powers of the Minister as provided in the Education Act and the schools had not exhausted all the domestic channels available to them in terms of the Act.

However, Mr Timba argued that fees for non-government schools were determined in terms of Section 21 of the Education Act as amended.

"The Act unambiguously permits schools to increase their fees by a factor not exceeding the CPI for the preceding term," he said.

Mr Timba said the trust schools would go ahead and apply to Secretary for Education, Sport and Culture Dr Mahere for a school fees and levy increase.

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