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Mashudu Netsianda Senior Court Reporter
A GRADE Seven pupil at Whitestone Primary School in Bulawayo has filed an urgent chamber application at the Bulawayo High Court challenging her expulsion from the school over non-payment of school fees.

Zoe who is the first applicant and her father Shorai Zonde, the second applicant, through their lawyers, Mathonsi Ncube Law Chambers, on Monday filed the application seeking an order that directs school authorities to take her back.

According to the court papers filed on Tuesday, Whitestone Primary School was cited as the respondent.

Zonde, in his founding affidavit on behalf of his daughter, said it was unfair and unlawful for the school to refuse the minor access to the classes, arguing that the girl could not suffer prejudice as a result of his debts.

Zoe was excluded from classes since the beginning of the school term because of her father’s failure to pay $1,000 school fees.

“I was paying my daughter’s school fees on time and never defaulted on payments until the school introduced the school card system. I’ve no debt owing to the school and the debt I have is to the CABS account which pays the school fees. However, the school fees for second term was paid by myself to the school directly and not via the bank,” said Zonde.

Zoe has not been attending school since the beginning of the term and Zonde fears that his daughter is likely to fail mid-term examinations, if she continues staying at home.

“The applicant prays for a final order that compels the respondent to facilitate for Zoe’s private extra lessons so that she catches up on time lost. The other final order sought is that the respondent pay Zoe for the emotional distress they caused and pay her for all the days she was not allowed to school despite fees having been paid for the term,” said Zonde.

Zonde said he was involved in a legal battle with CABS over a debt.

According to court papers, CABS on July 2014, wrote to Whitestone Primary School notifying authorities to prevent children whose parents defaulted in their school card fee repayments from attending lessons until they had cleared all their outstanding obligations to the bank.

Whitestone Primary School has an agreement with CABS which enables parents to pay their school fees through the bank’s school fees facility.

Zonde’s lawyers, citing a ruling by Justice Maphios Cheda in a case involving the state versus Idah Nyabeza and Munyaradzi Murenga (November 1, 2010 and January 13, 2011), argued that denying Zoe access to school was a violation of her right to education under section 7 (1) of the Children’s Act.

In his ruling in a case involving 239 Cecil John Rhodes Primary School pupils in Gweru, who were punished for failing to pay school fees, Justice Cheda said: “No valid legal steps or proceedings can be taken against a minor who has no contract with the institution to pay fees. To do so is an abuse of authority on the part of the institution which is an undue pressure to enforce payment of fees using pupils as pawns. This is therefore unlawful.”

“The court takes judicial notice that for a long time now, pupils continue to be shut out of school premises, forced to do manual work and have their school results withheld in order to force parents to pay outstanding fees. Such action by institutions is illegal as it contravenes section 7 (1) of the Children’s Act supra. While the authorities are entitled to their fees, they should resort to a legal way of recovering fees from the pupils or students through their parents.”