Fresh Headache for Parents As Schools Reopen Amid COVID-19

Zimbabwe School Examinations Council (ZIMSEC) sitting candidates opened schools on Monday, 28th of September. Image by Pixabay

by Amanda Ncube

As schools re-open after a COVID-19 induced lockdown, parents say the pandemic has financially crippled them and they may be unable to pay the fee required by educational institutions. On the other hand, the teaching staff is grappling with an unsustainable income. They say they may not be able to make it to schools to teach the learners and some have threatened industrial action.

UMZINGWANE, September 29, 2020. (The Citizen Bulletin) — THE school calendar began this week and Nosipho Dube from Msizini Village in Mawabeni area, Umzingwane District does not know how she will manage to raise school fees money for her two children who are meant to sit for their final examinations this year.

Dube who is a mother of three children aged 8, 13 and 18-years-old needs to raise school fees for her Grade 7 and Form 4 children.

Her 8-year-old child will be opening schools on 9 November, a fee also needs to be paid.

Dube used to sell clothes and groceries at a shop in Mawabeni Business Centre but her business came to a standstill as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic as she could not manage to travel to South Africa to buy stock.

Her husband, a former hospitality industry employee in South Africa is now jobless after a lay-off caused by the pandemic.

Dube’s earning from vegetables sales from her garden ensure somewhat of a livelihood, but the money is hardly enough to pay for her children’s education.

“We haven’t received the new fees structures, but I don’t have the money to pay the fees anyway. When schools open my children will just go to school without paying fees and if the school demands fees upfront, they will sit at home.”
Nosipho Dube, mother to three children

Dube says the hardships which had been brought by the COVID-19 pandemic have made it genuinely difficult for her to raise money to pay school fees for her children. She does not have means to raise the money on time.

Livelihoods of many people in Matabeleland South have been severely affected because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Some people have lost their jobs both locally and in the diaspora. Some small businesses have been left crippled as they had to suspend operations during the first phase of the lockdown.

Innocent Moyo’s child is in Form four, Moyo’s vending operations have remained suspended since the end of March.

He says he has been selling his wares from his house in the high-density suburbs but only a few customers come around to buy.

“There is need for Government to be lenient to us this time around when it comes to payment of fees as we are going through a difficult time. This whole situation is stressing me out because I’m sure that once schools open teachers will move at a fast pace in order to make up for the lost time in preparation for examinations. If my child misses out on any lessons he would have missed out on a lot,” says Moyo.

He suggests that schools should allow pupils to attend lessons whether they have paid or not, especially examination classes.

Cabinet has approved a 3 phased reopening of schools which will see all learners including non-examination classes returning to school by November.

Schools reopened on September 14 for Cambridge sitting examination classes. The Zimbabwe School Examinations Council sitting Grade 7, Form 4 and Form 6 classes opened on Monday, Sept. 28.

Government policy states that learners should not be chased away from school because of non-payment of fees. However, in the past schools have ignored this directive chasing away learners as early as the first learning week.

Molvin Dube a member of the Zimbabwe National Educators says parents are not the only ones who will harbour the pressure of schools re-opening as many teachers might fail to travel to their workstations due to economic challenges induced by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I fear that we will have a situation whereby learners will fail to pay fees and teachers won’t make it to their workstations. Teachers are incapacitated as the money they earn is hardly enough to cater for transport costs especially for those who must travel long distances. Prices have spiralled out of control due to this COVID-19 pandemic,” says Dube.

Dube says it would have been a better for Government to call off the 2020 academic year until next year with the hope things would have stabilised a bit.

“If you look at Matabeleland South Province you will realise that livelihoods of most people have been affected. This means many will fail to pay fees and schools with struggle to operate because of poor cash inflows. Government has to first consider offering relief to various sectors that were greatly affected by the pandemic, paying its workers in forex which in turn will allow schools to peg their fees in forex,” he says.

This term is a critical one as teachers have to cover a lot of ground within a short space of time in preparation for examinations.

Teachers currently earn ZWL11 000 including the COVID-19 allowance. The Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe secretary general Raymond Majongwe recently said teachers want an increase in salaries before they can enter the classroom.

Dube believes that if not carefully planned, this academic year will turn out to be a disaster.

Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education spokesperson, Taungana Ndoro believes parents were given ample time to mobilise funds for the children’s school fees.

“At first schools were supposed to open on 28 July but the date was postponed. Parents knew that the day would come when schools would reopen and hence, they were supposed to prepare school fees money for their children. For those with exceptional cases they should visit the Department of Social Welfare. School also need funds in order to run smoothly and some of these funds come in the form of school fees paid by parents,” he says.

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