Govt warns schools that require forex

Leroy Dzenga Herald Correspondent
The government sent a strict warning to schools after it turned out that some demanded a tuition fee in US dollars.

Some of the highest private schools have already sent circulars to parents to advise them to pay tuition fees for the next term in US dollars.

Parents are afraid that several schools could follow the gang.

Answering journalists' questions after an informative media meeting is the Secretary for Primary and Secondary Education dr. Sylvia Utete-Masango warned schools to refuse such requests to constitute a violation of government policy.

"If there are schools asking for US dollars, they will post them because we have not received any opposite policies. We know that commissions are paid in local currency because people receive salaries in local currency.

"Until now, we were not familiar with any changes," said Dr. Masango.

Her remarks came after the government, through the Minister of Finance and Economy, Professor Mthul Ncubea, inviting companies to observe the multi-currency system that prevails in the country.

Some of the schools that have applied for a single currency obviously overlook the government's position.

Dr. Masango assured parents that this year, the Electronic Application Platform for the Electronic Ministry (EMAP) for embarking students on Form 1 will be flawless, unlike last year when it was due to technical errors.

"We prepared proposals that were received from stakeholders when we improved the EMAP system, so we do not expect it to be particularly confusing with the measures that we have implemented," said Dr. Masango.

Parents were asked to initially apply at the outset, with 24,320 embedded places, while 350,810 candidates passed the 7th grade exam in 2018.

"We advise parents who send their children to boarding schools to apply via the platform (www.emap.co.zw). This year's platform will run from November 5, 2018 to December 21, 2018.

"Successful applicants will be informed by means of short message (SMS) by school leaders. Details of individual school, tuition fees and levies are available on this platform," said Dr. Masango.

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