Dear

Recently, HE The President made pronouncements to the effect that school fees has been frozen and any headmaster who increases school fees was going to be arrested, obviously for defying HE The President. On Wednesday 18 January 2023 a meeting was called by Murowa school headmaster and the SDC for purposes of endorsing a scandalous and whooping 100% school fees denominated in USD. On being reminded of the President’s pronouncement regarding fees the Head stubbornly replied saying that he doesn’t take instructions from HE but from the ministry in the form of a circular.

First, surely HE must avoid making pronouncements that lack credibility. Zimbabweans are suffering and deserve seriousness not mere politicking and propaganda. Education is a fundamental right and should never be reduced to some joke. Parents have waited for far too long for the free basic education as enshrined in the constitution and promised by the government. No wonder headmasters are now defying and demeaning pronouncements by HE boasting of taking instructions from the ministry. Parents had welcomed the freeze in school fees considering the obtaining economic hardships and the fast approaching hunger and starvation. Murowa is one of the poorest ward and most crops in the fields are a total failure and here we have a ruthless and heartless headmaster pilling more miseries on poor parents and a President whose pronouncements are bring defied by his very subordinates. Is the President indicating left but turning right or he is being sabotaged?

Second, the increase by 100% is beyond imagination considering the stability of the USD. The Head raised issues to do with Wi-Fi, twitter, whatsapp, internet as part of his justification claiming that lack of these was the major cause of very low pass rate and transfer of teachers. Definitely such massive increases fuel inflation and deny a lot of pupils their right to education. The greatest surprise was that parents whose children are on BEAM sponsorship shamelessly endorsed this scandal and even went further to claim that they were going to buy their children smart phones. This alone is solid evidence that BEAM funds at Murowa are being abused and not assisting the needy. Most parents of these pupils under BEAM are either in committees or very close relatives of those in committees. The BEAM sponsorship at Murowa must be discontinued as it is being abused not benefiting the intended pupils. How can a child whose parent is gainfully employed and driving an expensive car be on BEAM? This is a tip of the iceberg on how BEAM funds are being misused and abused, probably typical of all government funds.

Finally Murowa school accounts must be audited for the Headmaster couldn’t explain how the money payed as fees is being used. Fact is a big chunk is being used to buy groceries for SDC members each time they pass by the school. So each time an SDC member wants bread and a drink they go to the school and send pupils home again in defiance of The President and violating the supreme law of Zimbabwe. The current SDC and the head are the supreme law themselves and its high time their wings be clipped. Murowa school has been reduced to a lawless fighting ground where teachers spend most hours arguing on politics, gossipin or fighting.
There is virtually no learning taking place due to lack of supervision especially at district level. This powerful head at any given time can send all the pupils back home without even a second of learning meaning these teachers are being paid for not teaching. Some teachers who have been at the school for many years claim that they are are untouchable hence they do as they wish

We therefore appeal to the highest office The Presidency to come to our rescue and save our kids’ the future leaders. Both the district and provincial offices have proved to be either toothless, incompetent or in complicit.

Cry poor parents

Murowa Community Zvishavane
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