Overzealous school authorities have made to eat humble pie after they were forced to reinstate an underprivileged pupil they had barred from attending lessons for failure to pay a US$30 tuition fee.
Authorities at Sherenje Primary School in Headlands, Manicaland province, had barred the girl from attending lessons at the government-run school, despite being aware that she comes from an underprivileged family and that her tuition fee was supposed to be paid by government under the State-funded Basic Education Assistance Module (Beam).
This saw the 10-year-old pupil missing lessons since her legal guardian could not afford to the tuition fee.
As a result, the pupil’s guardian enlisted the services of Tatenda Sigauke and Peggy Tavagadza of the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights, who wrote to the head demanding that the pupil’s right to education be respected and allow her to attend lessons within 24 hours, failure of which they would institute legal proceedings against the school authorities.
In their letter, lawyers reminded school authorities of the provisions of the Education (General) Regulations of 2025, promulgated through Statutory Instrument 13 of 2025 by Primary and Secondary Education ministry, which provide that every child of school-going age shall be afforded equal opportunity to access education and that basic education is compulsory, and if the parents of the pupil cannot afford school fees at a government-run school, the State will assist.
The lawyers emphasised that since the Constitution guarantees the right to education, exclusion of a child from school for non-payment of fees is wanton infringement on the right to education and would reverse the progressive the gains made through the Bill of Rights and the Education Regulations.
The lawyers warned the school authorities not to exert undue pressure in enforcing payment of tuition fees by using the pupil as a pawn as it is unlawful.
Eventually, school authorities capitulated and allowed the 10-year-old to attend lessons while the issue of school fees was being dealt with.
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