Harare Orders Schools To Roll Back Fees to 2005 Levels

Facing public outrage over soaring fees for primary and secondary education, both in public schools and private institutions, the Zimbabwean government has ordered all schools to roll back their tuition fees to where they stood in late 2005.

The state-controlled Herald newspaper said Wednesday that the permanent secretary for education, Stephen Mahere, has warned that school officials who raise fees and levies in the face of state prohibitions could be prosecuted under the education and anti-corruption acts. But parents continue to complain of unaffordable tuitions.

Reporter Carole Gombakomba of VOA's Studio 7 for Zimbabwe asked Education Ministry Regional Director for Matebeleland North Dan Moyo whether there is any point to issuing directives that are widely ignored by school administrators.

Chairman Jameson Timba of the Association of Trust Schools, an umbrella group for private schools, says however that the education ministry directive is unlawful.

More reports from VOA's Studio 7 for Zimbabwe...