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Brenda Phiri Cool Lifestyle Writer
CHASING students away from their schools and barring them from writing their Zimsec examinations is illegal and perpetrators will face consequences from the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education.
The Acting Secretary for the ministry, Mrs K. R. L. Nyanungo, made it clear that the Government was totally opposed to any attempt to bar children from exams.

“Once a student registers for an exam with Zimsec, they have entered a contract. The student has the right to sit for that exam because they have paid for it. Barring the student from the exam is therefore illegal,” she said.

Mrs Nyanungo was speaking on the sidelines of Mother Touch Junior School prize-giving ceremony on Saturday.
She also warned school heads not to hide behind the School Development Committee, by suggesting that they were behind the expulsions.
She said it was no excuse as the school head had the authority to stop the SDC from barring students from writing their final exams.

“The head of a school is an enforcer of the Government policy that is against the expulsion of students over non-payment of school fess. It is not right for a head to shift blame on the SDA claiming they are the ones that send students home. They have the power to prevent such things as they are the representatives of Government in schools,” she said.

This comes after numerous reports that students are allegedly being chased away from exams due to school fees arrears.
“Every child has the right to education and no one should take that away from them. School fees disputes should be settled between the school and the parents or guardians. They should work out a payment plan and the arrangement should not interrupt the child’s exams,” she said.

She highlighted that although the case was different with students in boarding schools, school officials should also sympathise with students.

She acknowledged that in such cases, there are a lot of things involved that include food for the non-paying students.
“The President was considerate enough to suspend water and electricity bills upon realising the hardships being faced by people. Why then can’t we show the same compassion and open doors for negations in terms of school fees payment?” she said.

She then advised victims of such incidents to report the matter to report to the district education offices near them. If they are not satisfied with the reception they get from there they were given the green light to approach the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education.

She said the reports are supposed to be made as soon as possible.
Meanwhile, exams are in full swing in secondary schools around the country.

The Zimsec examinations started on October 22 with O-Level students sitting for their Fashion and Fabrics practical lessons. O-Level Agriculture paper marks the end of 2013 exams on November 22.