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Government has warned school authorities that are demanding school fees exclusively in foreign currency saying such conduct is unethical. Primary and Secondary Education permanent secretary Mr Moses Mhike said parents should be free to pay fees in the currency of their choice because the country is operating under a multi-currency regime.

“No school should force parents to pay fees or levies exclusively in forex,” said Mr Mhike. He said if fees are pegged in forex for value preservation, parents must be allowed to pay in local currency at the prevailing interbank rate on the day of the transaction.

Mr Mhike said parents should also be allowed to buy uniforms where they are cheaper and as such school authorities should not force them to buy the uniforms at their schools. He said inspectors will be dispatched to ensure compliance with the ministry’s directives.

Most schools were demanding fees exclusively in forex and we hope following this directive, they will now accept payment in local currency. Parents should therefore report defiant school authorities to either the inspectors or directly at the Education Ministry offices.

Parents who are earning local currency should not be forced to buy forex at the black market in order to pay fees. It is a fact that the forex at the black market is very expensive and as such schools should allow such parents to pay fees in local currency.

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When Government allowed schools to charge fees in forex, it made it very clear that parents should be given the option to pay the fees or levies in either forex or local currency.

Parents are already sacrificing for the education of their children given the obtaining economic challenges hence the need for school authorities to be sensitive to their plight.

We appreciate that schools need adequate resources to enable them to provide quality education and as such parents and guardians should strive to pay the fees on time.

We want to once again remind school authorities that it is illegal to send pupils home for non-payment of fees. In 2011, the Bulawayo High Court ruled that it is parents or guardians who undertake to pay all fees for their children when they bring them to school.

The school authorities should therefore take legal action against parents in the event of them failing to pay the fees. Schools fees payment obligation is therefore a contract between a parent or guardian and the school concerned and not the child.

The High Court made it clear that it is improper to use children as pawns to enforce payment by either turning them away or withholding their examination results.

Government should therefore punish errant school authorities that continue to deny children their right to education by sending them home for non-payment of fees.