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Auxilia Katongomara Chronicle Reporter
MORE than 700 pupils countrywide have so far benefited from the government’s Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) programme.

Higher and Tertiary Education, Science and Technology Development Deputy Minister Godfrey Gandawa said they had paid tuition fees for 723 pupils as of yesterday.

The Ministry last month announced that the government would pay full school and boarding fees for all pupils who register for science subjects at public and mission schools at Advanced Level this year.

Students registering for Maths, Physics, Chemistry and Biology qualify.

Yesterday, Midlands topped the STEM beneficiaries list with 167 pupils followed by Bulawayo with 108. Mashonaland West had the least beneficiaries with 27 pupils.

“Zimdef has processed payments for all STEM applicants and students or parents must collect their proof of payment at Zimdef offices in their respective provinces. Midlands has 167, Bulawayo 108, Matabeleland North 71 and Matabeleland South 31,” said Gandawa.

Harare had 53 beneficiaries, Mashonaland East 95, Masvingo 61, Manicaland 76, Mashonaland West 27 and Mashonaland Central 34.

Gandawa said registration was still in progress and dismissed reports that there was discrimination in the selection of STEM beneficiaries.

“No one is being turned away as long as they’ve been admitted at a public, council or mission school of their choice and bring forward an invoice from their school,” he said.

The Ministry has set aside $4 million for the STEM programme.

“We’re making payments promptly so that schools are not short changed,” said Gandawa.

There have been reports that some students are failing to access their O-Level results which are being withheld by their schools and this is affecting their chances of benefiting from the STEM programme.

“We only deal with pupils that are holding their results and have registered at a school of their choice and not pupils who don’t have their O-Level results,” said Gandawa.

He referred questions about pupils whose results were being withheld to the Minister of Primary and Secondary Education, Lazarus Dokora, who was not available for comment.

In a statement yesterday, Zimdef, which is paying STEM fees, said those who submit their forms for the programme should expect their confirmation in 48 hours.

“Proof of payments is available for collection within 24 hours if you have submitted your application forms in Harare and 48 hours if you have submitted them at any of the provincial offices. School heads can also collect proof of payments on behalf of their students,” read the statement.

Zimdef said schools should refund parents whose children’s fees were paid prior to Zimdef’s disbursement of funds.

The ministry last month launched the STEM initiative through which the government pays tuition, levies and boarding fees for pupils who register for a combination of STEM subjects.

The ministry encouraged the uptake of science subjects after a realisation that most pupils were shunning them and opting for arts and commercials at universities.

Some science and technology universities had diverted from their core business shifting to commercials and humanities after failing to attract science students.

The universities said this was caused by fewer students enrolling in STEM subjects.

A total of 310,917 candidates sat for the November 2015 O Level examination and of these 156,418 were school candidates.

Candidates who sat for the Maths non-calculator paper were 12,331 and 1,313 passed with grade C or better while only 29,891 passed the Maths calculator version from the 114,236 registered candidates.

For Biology, 11,054 candidates passed the subject from the 20,634 who sat for the exam with a total of 5,197 passing the Physical science paper from 7,261 candidates.

A total of 5,191 pupils sat for Physics and 4,450 passed while 3,500 passed Chemistry from 5,175 candidates.

From 532 registered candidates, 184 passed Human and Social Biology.