SDCs have no authority to  expel pupils, says Dokora Dr Dokora
Minister Dokora

Minister Dokora

Zvamaida Murwira Senior Reporter
School Development Committees have no authority to expel pupils who fail to pay school fees as it is against Government policy to do so, a Cabinet Minister has said. Primary and Secondary Education Minister Lazaras Dokora told Senate yesterday that several SDC members

were encroaching on the role of headmasters and go into classrooms to turn away pupils who would have failed to pay school fees.
Minister Dokora said his ministry was working on a legal statute that clearly defines the role of headmasters and stop SDC members from involving themselves in administrative work that include chasing away pupils over school fees.

He said this in Senate while responding to a question from Harare Metropolitan Senator Rooran Muchihwa (MDC-T) who wanted to know whether Government had started implementing the compulsory free basic education policy as enunciated by the new Constitution.
Minister Dokora said it was not only against Government policy to expel pupils over non-payment of fees but the High Court has since outlawed the practice.

“We take it as an offence for a headmaster to chase away pupils over school fees. What then happens is that the headmaster says it is not me doing that but it is a parent, a member of SDC going into classrooms to exclude pupils of other parents.

“So we are coming up with a law that strengthen the powers of headmasters so that we control that system. It will ensure that SDC do not believe that they have the authority to chase away pupils over school fees,” he said.

Minister Dokora said they agreed with a High Court judgment by Justice Maphios Cheda that school fees was a contract between the headmaster and parents and so pupils should not be caught up in their misunderstanding.

The Minister said prosecuting headmasters over the issue had not been easy since they have been taking advantage of that gap where they allowed SDC members to move in to chase pupils.

Turning to the issue of basic free education, Minister Dokora said the provision was contained in the Constitution as one of the issues that as a country envisaged to achieve as an ideal situation.

“This is one of the aspiration we are unable to fulfill but we hope that with time we will be able to achieve that,” he said.
Responding to another question, Minister Dokora admitted that some pupils were failing to go to school because of food shortages affecting some parts of the country.

Midlands traditional leader, Chief Ngungumbane Mkhwananzi had asked if Government was carrying out supplementary feeding to pupils in areas experiencing food shortages.

“Attendance at school has become erratic. It would be quite ideal to put mahewu as an incentive for pupils to come to school. As of now the Ministry is not receiving adequate support.
“Thank you for raising that because it will buttress our point with Treasury,” said Minister Dokora.

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