Nunurai Jena
Chinhoyi—Most school authorities in Mashonaland West province are jeorpardising the future of young people by withdrawing their examination results for failing to meet their financial obligations to the learning centres,
Michael Musonza is one of many pupils who are still yet to get their O’ Level results, more than a month after they were released, due to non-payment of levies and tuition fees accumulated over time.
Michael has joined other youths in the streets who failed to proceed with their education.
Although government insisted that no child shall be deprived of the right to education for any reasons, most school heads across the country are disregarding this with the reported protection of some schools inspectors.
The most affected are those who sat for Grade 7, Ordinary and Advanced level public examinations last year.
What pains Michael most is that he got to know of his results through the Zimbabwe Schools Examination Council (ZIMSEC) portal and saw that he passed with 7 A’s and 3 B’s but cannot get the supporting paperwork.
He cannot proceed to A-level, shattering his dreams of becoming an engineer, because his school head at Nemakonde High school in Chinhoyi, Tatenda Tavaguta, refused to release the physical results unless he settles a US$375 levy debt.
“I went to see MrTavaguta and begged him to give me the results but he was adamant. What pained me most is that I now know my gradies through the ZIMSEC portal but do not have the document to look for an A-Level place,” complained Michael.
Musonza is not alone in this predicament. Most school heads are refusing to release results even when parents offer payment plans, says Zvimba farmer Jackson Madzima.
“Last year was a bad year for most villagers and we got poor harvests that we normally use to pay school fees with after selling our crops. The ministry of Education district officials failed to help me as they insisted that I pay half the debt and make a payment plan with the school authorities before results are released, “ said Madzima.
Tavaguta the headmaster, is not moved by parents’ pleas or his superiors’ requests to release results.
“All that I want here is payment. We need money to run this school. Besides, people must not have children when they cannot look after them. Schools are not charity organisations” said Tavaguta.
But Primary and Secondary Education spokesperson, Taungana Ndoro, said such errant school heads must be reported to the ministry and reprimanded for such behaviour, which he described as illegal.
“Schools have no legal or moral right to withhold results of students because of non-payment of fees. The examination results issue is between the student and ZIMSEC, not schools. Parents must report such headmasters to our ministry for corrective
“After realising the confusion within the parent ministry we decided to post results of students on our portal because we were once taken to court for accepting examination fees but fail to give the student results” said a ZIMSEC official in Chinhoyi.
This publication was told that some school inspectors in the ministry of Primary and Secondary Education were failing to rein in school heads because most of them were political appointees who enjoy protection from their godfathers.