School Heads Denied Permission to Dismiss Pupils Over Fees

Government turned down an appeal by the National Association of Secondary Heads (Nash) to send away pupils from school for non-payment of fees. Current Government policy bars schools from sending pupils away from school for not paying fees.

Speaking at the annual Nash conference that was held in Victoria Falls recently, secondary school heads said they were struggling to run schools because of resources constraints. The Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education permanent secretary Dr Silvia Utete-Masango told school heads to start income-generating projects. Utete-Masango said the new education curriculum encourages life-long skills learning which will lead to creation of “champion heads and schools”. Said Utete-Masango:

There is an Education Strategic Sector Plan report where the Minister of Finance wanted projections of enrolment per district and province for planning purposes because employment and deployment is done based on enrolment. We are, however, working with the Public Service Commission to come up with champion schools and champion heads where there will be recognition for performance.