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Gwanda Correspondent
COUNCILLORS in Gwanda district have called on the government to consider sending away pupils over non-payment of fees, saying some parents have adopted a carefree attitude.
During a full council meeting, councillors said since the government stopped the chasing away of pupils over fees, most parents had stopped paying.

Gwanda Rural District Council chairperson, Clr Johnson Mangwangwa Dube, said the full council meeting resolved to engage the government, to get tough on defaulting parents.

“As the full council, we resolved the issue should be taken up because schools are in serious trouble. There’re serious challenges facing our schools because there’s no money coming in from parents.

“There’s no development taking place in most of the schools, due to failure by parents to pay for their children’s education. We need to improve the state of some schools, which is impossible, if the current situation isn’t addressed,” he said.

The councillors said the government’s suggestion, of taking legal action against parents over non payment of fees, was not effective in the rural areas.

They said sending back children home should be reconsidered as a means to encourage parents to pay fees. “Our appeal is that government should take strict measures, so that everyone with a responsibility to pay fees for school going children, would be forced to do so,” Clr Dube.

He said some children walked for about 10km to the nearest school, including those doing Early Childhood Development (ECD) classes.
“We need more schools to be built in our district, so that children don’t travel for long distances. Most children get to school tired and end up failing to concentrate,” he said.