Online Reporter
SCHOOLS open today for the first term, and around a quarter of the entire population of Zimbabwe, more than 3,6 million schoolchildren of the 15 million citizens, are expected to trek down the road and start their lessons promptly, after their initial assembly.
For some, there is the jump from primary school to secondary school and for a significant group of very young children, there is their first day of what will be the rest of their childhood as they progress up the ladder of the primary grades and go on to secondary school. They at least will be very excited, if a little nervous, at this new turn in their lives.
We sometimes forget what amounts to the largest movement of people in the country and the major combined efforts that are needed from parents, teachers, heads and administrators to bring it off each year.
But all reports say every school and every teacher is ready, and most of the children have been prepared by their parents and sent on their way, correctly dressed and carrying their pencils or pens and any other required stationery.
The Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education has made it clear what all schools, public and private, must do and are allowed to do and what they are not allowed to do.
For example, parents can buy uniforms from whoever they like, or even make them themselves at home, so long as they meet the standards set by the school, so the efforts that were creeping in at some schools on making a large profit on monopolising uniform sales have been shot down.
Until a few decades ago almost all school dresses and blouses and skirts for girls were made at home or by a local family dressmaker, this being easy since the fabric was woven and dyed in Zimbabwe and rolls were sent to both the factories and the local fabric shops, so every dress was made from the same fabric and meeting standards was easy.
The range for boys’ uniforms was far more limited, two colours of trousers and four colours of shirts, so parents could shop around as almost every manufacturer made identical products.
Even jerseys came in a very limited range of colours with no neckband colour stripes. Just blazers and ties varied. We need to get back to those simpler days. The police have, yet again, urged those transporting children to follow road rules. This imposes some responsibilities on parents, who ought to take a serious interest in how their children go to school.
Many going to the local school will be walking there and often safety will be considerably improved if they are accompanied by an adult or older child. It should be possible for neighbours to take turns on the school runs and school walks to boost safety and make things easier. School fees and their payment will arise. We hope that most schools are now insisting on parents depositing cash payments at the school’s bank or better still making electronic payments into the school’s bank account, with the required information in the right field included.
But even mobile money payments, so long as the parents or child bring the proof of payment and the transaction details, should be receipted.
The police have warned schools not to keep large sums of cash on their premises, since this will make them a target for robberies.
Regrettably, robbery gangs do now keep their ears open about piles of cash building up in a school safe, and are willing to suborn school staff to get details. If payments have been made electronically there is obviously no danger, but even when schools are willing to accept cash and parents have wanted to pay cash the schools must make sure that the cash is moved promptly to their bank.
If there is a flood of payers coming with cash today then that might need more than one trip to the bank before closing time. Some schools have now banned cash payments and insist that parents make the deposits at the bank, or make online or mobile payments, and then produce proof of payment for the records.
Robbers do not want a pile of paper slips showing payments have been made and the school will not be a target. Even rural primary schools could switch to mobile money for most fee payments if other options were not available. There is the ruling that public schools cannot turn away a child for non-payment of fees, although this generally means tuition fees since a boarding school must have the money to buy the food for the hostels.
In many cases this may also require investigations to find out if the family can pay, but is simply being difficult or if the family genuinely cannot pay.
The BEAM programme has now been expanded so it covers around a third of the schoolchildren, and this term might have to do even more since the drought last year means a lot of farming families might not have had anything to sell to raise school fees.
The schools would be far more eager to accept BEAM money if the payments were made promptly by the Government.
School heads are normally eager to hear from parents who might have payment problems so they can, if possible, work out payment plans or know exactly when an employer will be forwarding the money, or know they have a good applicant for BEAM funds. But the head can only help when they know what the problems are.
What drives them to despair are those parents who simply send their children when fees have not been paid, rather than coming in themselves to explain.
The Government policy does not excuse parents refusing to accept responsibility and behaving properly.
But most parents do accept their responsibilities and do behave properly and so support their children and their children’s schools. In return the schools need to treat this large group of parents fairly and seek their co-operation and assistance to make their children’s schooling even better and more effective.
Raising a child is not something that can be left to parents or left to schools. Both have to be heavily involved and the child will have a better time at school and a more effective education when both parents and school are working together.
So we hope all the children who went off this morning for their first day of the new year have a wonderful and rewarding year.
daniel chigunwe
