Civil society organisations have called on the government to extend the examinations fee subsidy to include home-based colleges.
Tag a Life International (Tali) and Every Child in School argued that some kids are resorting to private colleges due to the high cost of accessing formal education.
Tali executive director Nyaradzo Mashayamombe had this to say:
The government seems to be highly detached from the suffering of citizens. Zimbabwe has over 95 per cent informal employment, meaning most families are living from hand to mouth.
We have a significant percentage of children who are failing to get into the formal education system despite the availability of policies and laws that allow these kids access, and many are resorting to private colleges.
The government recently announced that it would pay 53 per cent of the examination fees for June and November 2020 candidates in public schools.
This came on the back of an increase in exam fees by the Zimbabwe School Examinations Council (Zimsec) to $190 per subject for Ordinary Level candidates and $351 for Advanced Level candidates.
Candidates enrolled at private colleges do not benefit from the subsidy.