The Government has warned school authorities that sending away learners for non-payment of fees is a criminal offence and those who do so risk being prosecuted for violating children’s right to education.
Responding to legislators in the National Assembly during a question and answer session on Wednesday, Primary and Secondary Education Minister Torerai Moyo said:
It is true that most students, despite being on BEAM (Basic Education Assistance Module), were being sent away from school.
We have now put in place a law that ensures that anyone who sends a child away from school because of fees, whether on BEAM or not, will have committed a crime.
They will have breached the children’s right to education. Our Constitution does not allow pupils to be sent away from school.
We are using a Statutory Instrument of 2000 which imposes penalties for sending children away from school.
The school head can be charged for breaching the children’s right to education.
Should anyone hear of any school still sending children away from school, please quickly let us know.
He said that instead of sending away learners over the non-payment of school fees, Moyo said authorities should first engage parents and guardians.
Moyo also implored parents and guardians who can afford to pay fees to do so for the smooth running of the institutions.
The Statutory Instrument of 2000, commonly referred to as the Education Act, is specifically the Education (Amendment) Regulations of 2000.
Among other changes and updates to the education system in Zimbabwe, the regulations addressed the issue of school fees and provided guidelines on acceptable fee structures for different types of schools.
More: Pindula News