STEM Students Exam Fees Not Paid

STEM students risk not meeting the stipulated deadline to pay for their November exams set for this week.

According to reports the Zimbabwe Manpower Development Fund (ZIMDEF) has failed to pay for students funded by the board. The ministry of Higher and Tertiary Education funds at least 5 000 Advanced Level students in the Stem programme. The science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) programme is aimed at students studying sciences.

The Minister of Primary and Secondary Education minister, Lazarus Dokora could not provide an answer as to why the ministry had failed to pay for the fees. He said that his ministry was just a beneficiary of funding and was unaware if ZIMDEF had failed to pay the tuition fees.

In a statement to the press, the Minister of Higher and Tertiary Education Professor Jonathan Moyo said that the fees paid by STEM generally did not include exam fees but this was being revisited. He further added that ZIMDEF and STEM would ensure that the process for paying exam is done in time.

Schools are therefore advised to submit invoices for their examination fees to ZIMDEF Regional Offices. Parents who have already paid examination fees will be reimbursed in the usual manner.

The Higher and Tertiary Education ministry through ZIMDEF has availed funding of over $10
million to Advanced Level students in a bid to promote the learning of science, technology, engineering and mathematics.