The ManicaPost
Samuel Kadungure Senior Reporter
GOVERNMENT has warned schools against unilaterally extending the extra holiday lessons duration for exam classes as those found violating laid-down regulations to line their pockets will be ruthlessly dealt with.
Provincial Education Director (PED) Mr Edward Shumba on Wednesday told The Manica Post that the vacation school should be conducted within two weeks to equip students with exam techniques, skills and knowledge to ensure that they achieve better grades and no school has the mandate to extend the facility.
Mr Shumba said unscrupulous elements bent on writing their own rules of the game and want parents to play by it will be charged for violating set regulations.
He said only exam classes – Grade 7, Form 4 and Upper 6 – should attend holiday lessons as a way of helping them to achieve their academic potential.
The education director’s stern warning follows complaints by parents and students that some schools in the province were levying parents for more than two weeks.
“The official position is that the vacation school should be conducted within two weeks, and meant for Grade 7, Form 4 and Upper 6 classes only. There is a circular from the Permanent Secretary for Primary and Secondary Education stipulating this and any school exceeding two weeks period is breaking the law governing vacation school. I have since advised the District School Inspectors (DSIs) to monitor the process and ensure that the facility is not being abused to milk parents.
“Any school head who does anything other than what has been communicated by the ministry must desist from it because they are committing an offence of failing to abide by the lawful instructions,” said Mr Shumba.
Schools charge an average of $10 (Form 4s) and $20 (A Level) per subject, which poor parents say was exorbitant and discriminatory.
The parents argued that some schools were denying them the platform to voice their grievances by not calling for special meetings on vacation school levies.
They complained that schools were abusing the facility with impunity to generate money by making them pay through the nose yet the same teachers receive their salaries and allowances even during holidays. They added that the levies should be reduced to allow poor students to benefit.
Students also complained that the extension of holiday lessons was drastically reducing their holiday- which is usually an opportunity for children and families to relax and have a break – and want authorities to review the manner they were being done.
Mr Shumba said though holiday lessons were not for free, schools had no right to impose levies without engaging the affected parents.
He said a special meeting involving relevant stakeholders should be convened to come up with a binding resolution on the levies before submitting the proposal to the ministry for approval.
Mr Shumba said the School Development Committees (SDCs) are not allowed to fund these holiday lessons.
“The procedure is that parents affected by vacation school – that is parents with children in Grade 7, Form 4 and Form 6, teachers involved and the SDC should hold a meeting and agree on the levies and then write to our district offices, attaching the minutes of that special meeting, registers and proposed percentages for approval.
“In cases where the levies are exorbitant, we tell them to reduce them. What should be noted by all the stakeholders is that vacation school is not for free as there are costs to be paid for. It should fund itself, not through the SDCs.
“So before the end of the second term, schools should call for a special meeting to discuss vacation school levies and nothing else. We also do want to hear that Grade 2 or Form 3 parents are invited for that special meeting because it doesn’t affect them.
“It is wrong for schools to make students pay vacation school levies that have not been agreed by parents,” said Mr Shumba.
Mr Shumba said holiday lessons for non-exam classes remain suspended following the revelation that some teachers were unfairly “extracting” money from parents under the guise of helping pupils.
“The motive behind holiday lessons should be to assist pupils fully prepare for their examinations. If a school has students struggling with a particular subject that they need to catch up on, that’s when they should facilitate holiday lessons rather than to initiate them for monetary benefits,” said Mr Shumba, adding that his ministry would ensure that teachers did not relax during the term hoping to conduct paid extra holiday lessons.
