Government to face stiff resistance on private schools directive

By Tichaona Sibanda
06 December

Education Minister Aeneas Chigwedere’s recent directive to peg fees for private schools has been met with stiff resistance from the schools concerned who have vowed to challenge the order in court.

Government last week capped school fees for all private schools and threatened prison terms for institutions refusing to fall in line, a move analysts said would destroy the education system in the country, still considered one of the best in Africa .

From January all the 61 private schools in the country would be prohibited from increasing fees beyond Z$509 858, a figure lower than what most of the schools charged pupils for the last term of 2006. ZimOnline reported Wednesday that Chigwedere issued a warning that officials from schools that breach the new fees structure could be jailed for up to six months, fined, or the schools would just have to forfeit the overcharged fees.

Jameson Timba, chairman of the Association of Trust Schools a grouping of private schools, said the Education Minister’s directive was unlawful. He said the Education Act does not permit him to prescribe any fees for private schools.

‘We will be challenging this in a court of law. As a matter of urgency we will seek to have it set aside, but all the same any attempts to threaten the viability of our education system will face stiff resistance,’ Timba said.

With the country’s sky-rocketing inflation Timba gave a stark warning that pegging the school fees at Z$500 000 will force many of the private schools to shut down. Analysts said this will inevitably affect the quality of education in the country. Private schools have the best academic and sporting facilities, with most of the students excelling in both academia and sports.