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examination fees for about 15 000 poor pupils under the Basic Education Assistance Module.
In an interview yesterday, director for social services in the Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare, Mr Sydney Mhishi, said the number might increase to more than 15 000 depending on the response from the public.
“We have set aside US$1 million for examinations and we are already receiving applications for examination fees,” said Mr Mhishi.
The development comes at a time when Government has also allocated US$24 388 020 million annual school fees budget for all children under the same programme across the country.
Although figures were not made available yesterday, the tuition programme was likely to benefit more pupils in rural areas given the low school fees charged by schools in these areas.
Government and donors, under the co-ordination of Unicef, sourced the money.
Mr Mhishi said Government would pay for six subjects for Ordinary Level pupils and three subjects for those pursuing Advanced Level studies countrywide.
This means that Government will be forking out US$66 apiece for pupils sitting for Ordinary and Advanced Level examinations.
It cost US$22 for one Advanced Level subject and US$11 for Ordinary Level per subject.
Traditionally, the Beam programme catered mostly for rural pupils, but due to economic pressures, the scheme is now also vital for urban children.
The closing date for all applications for examination fees is May 27 and the deadline was set in line with the Zimbabwe School Examinations Council closing date for the November examinations.
“We are using the May 27 deadline set by Zimsec for submission of all applications.
“From the trend of previous years, the number may increase to about 15 000 because last year we had set a target of 10 000 but we ended up paying for 19 000 pupils.”
On school fees, Mr Mhishi said 620 000 primary pupils were set to benefit from this scheme while 160 000 secondary pupils would be catered for.
He said the money for the school fees had already been dispatched to provincial offices and was ready for disbursement to respective schools.
“The money is available. Treasury is pay- ing for secondary schools while donors are covering fees for those in primary schools,” he said.
Last year Beam, with assistance from donors, raised US$15 million that benefited 538 000 primary school pupils throughout the country while Government put aside another US$15 million that assisted 197 000 secondary school children with fees and levies.
Beam is part of Government’s social protection strategy targeting vulnerable children of school going age.
Its primary objective is to reduce the number of school dropouts and to reach children who have never been to school due to economic hardships.
Working in conjunction with Unicef, Government has managed to buy millions of textbooks for primary schools countrywide and another programme for secondary schools will be unveiled soon.