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tended to be more of fundraising ventures than an educational necessity.
The Government’s concern comes out of the realisation that many schools are making it mandatory for children to attend holiday lessons thereby fleecing parents of their hard-earned cash.
There is also suspicion that teachers are not executing fully their lessons within the stipulated school terms, dragging the curriculum on and on, to justify holiday lessons and subsequent cash payments.
In the end, the children are being stretched without rest while teachers line their pockets by charging between US$25 and US$40 per child, for holiday lessons.
Education Sport, Arts and Culture Deputy Minister Lazarus Dokora, on Friday said schools should utilise the school term and not extend to holiday lessons.
“A self-respecting school will use the regular period of learning between the closing and opening days of the term to foster the culture of learning,” said Deputy Minister Dokora.
“It is a fact that students benefit from additional classes but to do that a school has to exhaust fully the studies during the normal term.
“When will the children rest?
“Government does not expect students to be overused. Mind you these are young people and need basic education and recreation.”
Deputy Minister Dokora blamed parents for pushing schools to go beyond the norm. He said some schools were unscrupulous as they used holiday classes as an opportunity to make profit.
“To Government, this is not tolerated,” he said.
A survey by The Herald has revealed that many schools across the board are now offering holiday lessons at an extra cost and it is expected that all learners in exam classes attend.
Roosevelt Girls High, Queen Elizabeth High School, Mabvuku Secondary and Prince Edward High School are all offering holiday lessons with charges ranging from US$4 to US$10 per subject and registration or administrative fees going up to US$20.
Some boarding schools are reportedly charging around US$100 for holiday lessons with most learners already back at school after a five-day break at the end of the term.
Primary schools are not exempt with Vainona, Moffat Primary, Widdecombe, Tashinga and Warren Park primary schools being examples. Charges range from US$10 to US$30 for each Grade 7 pupil wishing to attend.
It would appear that trust schools do not offer holiday lessons and instead give holiday homework.
But some students from those schools are going for holiday lessons at the schools that do offer the service.
In all cases parents revealed that the money was paid to the school authorities and receipted and not to individual teachers.
Until 2000, holiday lessons were only held in special cases such as when a class had gone for most of the term without a teacher for whatever reason.
The concerned teachers offered the lessons at no extra cost to the parent and guardian. At that time most civil servants earned salaries way above the poverty datum line.
So have the current crop of school children become so much dull that the term is no longer enough time for any of them to gain enough learning?
A teacher who declined to be named said that the trend for holiday lessons for all began in the past decade as classes lost a lot of learning time when teachers were on strikes and go slows.
As a result parents and authorities came up with the noble idea of holiday lessons to cover up for lost time.
But with the decline in real salaries for civil servants including teachers, the holiday lessons became a source for the schools and teachers to make extra money and are now practically compulsory.
Most parents interviewed said they did not consider their child’s ability or performance and just paid for the holiday lessons as a matter of course.
They revealed that most schools indirectly forced them to do so by insisting that the holiday lessons are not for revision but to cover the syllabus.
The head of one school offering holiday lessons said that competition among students and schools is now more intense hence the need to maximise on learning times.