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What is even more worrying about the latest incident at Mtshede Primary School in Njube in Bulawayo is that the pupil, Nothando Ncube (8), was being sent away, not for tuition or even school levy but some outstanding civvies day fee of five rand.
We would like to condemn in the strongest terms the abuse of pupils by school authorities on matters that should be settled between the parents and the schools.

Government policy is quite clear in terms of safeguarding the pupils’ rights and in addition to that a High Court order declared that it was the parents who have a  contract with the schools to pay fees and levies and hence the fight should be between parties to the contract and not involve the children.

It is quite unfortunate that breaches of Government regulations are coming to the fore at the cost of a young life whose only sin was not having parents who could afford or who did not bother to pay some fee required by the school. 
The upheavals at Mtshede mirror the bottled up indignation by several parents whose children are continuously being sent home for failure to pay one levy or another.

Nothando’s uncle, Mr Robert Ncube, summed up the parents’ feelings this way: “Our daughter is going to the mortuary because she did not have five rand. I wonder if the Ministry of Education is aware that children are missing lessons merely because they cannot pay money, which has nothing to do with the curriculum.”
We implore school authorities to be guided by Government regulations and remind parents of their obligation to the schools too. In some cases, parents resist making payments if there is no proper communication from the schools over the use of such money, an area which some schools have done quite well on through identifying

projects and financing them with money from civvies days. When parents see the fruit of their sacrifice, they are bound to pay.
Traffic police usually man crossing points in the mornings when children are going to school and in a way protect them against speeding motorists during rush hour but

sending children away before their dismissal time exposes them badly, not only to traffic but even unscrupulous individuals such as rapists and murderers since they would be walking alone. 
We urge the Ministry of Education, Sport, Arts and Culture to seriously look into the issue surrounding the disturbances at Mtshede and applaud the police for their swift response since the situation could have gone out of hand and resulted in double tragedy as angry parents were baying for the head’s blood.  Motorists also, on their part, should drive with due care especially in residential areas so that we avoid such incidents in future.

Let us all strive to improve the welfare of our children through observing  and promoting their educational and welfare rights since children’s rights are also  human rights.