The Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education has engaged the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (ZACC) to help fight the practice of charging fees for extra lessons by teachers.
In an interview with the Sunday News, the Ministry’s Director of Communication and Advocacy Taungana Ndoro said teachers who charge fees for extra lessons will be arrested for corruption. He said:
With regard to extra lessons, the Ministry’s position remains clear. Paid extra lessons, particularly during the school term remain illegal and parents and guardians are advised not to continue feeding the beast by continuously paying for these extra lessons as they exacerbate the situation that we are currently facing.
This practise of paying for extra lessons is a chargeable offence and an act of misconduct.
It is criminal abuse of office and corruption basically which is why we are working together with the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission to curb this scourge.
Ndoro said the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education is working with other law enforcement agencies to ensure that teachers charging for extra lessons are penalised. He said:
We are also working with the Zimbabwe Republic Police and other authorities to try and combat this.
Parents and teachers should both be held liable under the law for aiding and abetting this form of corruption.
The Ministry has put in place platforms on social media where people can report such practise so that action is immediately taken in conjunction with the relevant authorities.
Parents can send reports to our WhatsApp, Facebook, Twitter or even to our websites. You can even call our toll-free line, directly to our offices so that we can together tackle this scourge and ensure that all our learners continue to receive quality education and no one, and no place is left behind.
He said parents who pay teachers for extra lessons are also at risk of facing corruption charges. Said Ndoro:
The idea of feeding the beast means that parents are complicit in aiding teachers that are demanding illicit payments for extra lessons and in most cases, these teachers end up not doing the job for which they are already paid for, for which they are already on a government salary, for which they are already on a responsible authority’s salary.
Therefore, these paid-for extra lessons remain illegal and banned.
On 30 March, the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education announced a ban on holiday lessons, saying learners needed time to rest.
The Ministry also argued that the 2023 school calendar was never interrupted by COVID-19 hence there was no need for schools and teachers to conduct extra lessons during this April holiday.
However, teachers across the country have defied the ban saying making learners pay for extra lessons is a way of supplementing their salaries.
Some high school boarding teachers are reportedly renting buildings in the central business district as well as churches to conduct extra lessons and charging US$10 per subject.
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