Mixed feelings among parents over special levy demanded by school

Mashudu Mambo
PARENTS with children at Esigodini Primary School in Umzingwane District in Matabeleland South province have expressed mixed feelings over a US$20 special levy.

The special levy is meant to build classroom blocks to ease congestion at the school. According to papers gleaned by B-Metro there are about 500 pupils at the school and around US$30 000 is required to cater for building materials, labour and furniture. A parent, Menelisi Tshuma said this special levy was “unreasonable” as it was the duty of the Government and district councils to build schools and ensure that pupils have enough classrooms.

“This special levy is not justified because l believe that it is the duty of the Government to build schools. We have a lot of financial problems already and an addition of this special levy has increased our financial burden,” said Tshuma.

He argued that it was unfair to threaten the parents by sending their children home because of failure to pay the special levy as it was not part of the school fees.

“The payment of fees is the responsibility of parents and guardians and they should be held accountable but not the innocent children. I believe the best way to deal with such cases is sending debt collectors to parents rather than threatening to send our children home.

“I do not believe that sending our children home is a way of encouraging us to pay the fees but rather a way to disgrace our children,” said Tshuma.

Another parent, Sibusisiwe Ncube blamed the Umzingwane Rural District Council saying there was a need by the district council to build more schools to cater for the growing population in the district.

“I believe that our council has failed us because in the past there was only one suburb and two schools to cater for the population but currently we have about six suburbs and two schools.

“There has to be an amount that is placed by the council while selling housing stands that is tailor-made to build more schools,” said Ncube.

Another parent Buhlebenkosi Nkala  implored parents to work together to deal with the problems being faced by their children.

“The special levy is very important because it will go a long way in addressing challenges of hot sitting, congestion and the renting of different places to ensure that children attend their classes in a conducive environment.

“Last year, my daughter was forced to learn at a church and cricket club because of this congestion. l believe that as parents, if we do not actively participate in building a better learning environment for our children they are going to be affected by this challenge,” said Nkala.

A School Development Committee (SDC) chairperson at  Esigodini Primary School Mzingaye Ndlela said the special levy was an initiative aimed at building classroom blocks to ease congestion.

“As a committee, we are not going to lobby for the chasing of students who have not paid fees but we are using this as a strategy to encourage parents to pay so that we develop and create a conducive environment for our children.

“This is because we want to address the challenges that we are currently facing with hot sitting where our children are forced to attend classes twice or thrice a week,” said Ndlela.
Ndlela said they had applied to the ministry for the approval of the levy and they were progressing in building the block.

“The block that we are building now is at slab level and the ministry approved this levy. The cost of the classroom block was considered and we discovered that if we spread the amount across six terms, it will be enough to cover the whole project.

“Esigodini primary was a private school which accommodated about 200 pupils but we are currently having about 500 pupils. We have tried approaching different offices to no avail,” said Ndlela.
Director of Communication and Advocacy in the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education Taungana Ndoro said there was a need for parents to understand the importance of the special levy.
“The special levy is for special projects which are on the school development plan and there is a need for parents to understand what they are paying for,” said Ndoro.