The Sunday News
IT is not in dispute that education is an engine for nation-building and plays a crucial role in the transformation of the lives of people. A scholar Peresuh argued that education has always been advocated as the ultimate tool that can emancipate the world from the shackles of ignorance, poverty, inequality and under-development.
Therefore, the role played by education as a vehicle for social, economic and cultural transformation cannot be over-emphasised.
Considering the significance of education, people from across social strata must have access to it. The backgrounds of individuals should not be a factor in accessing education, in fact, education has been considered a bridge where people can cross from a low social class onto another.
It is against this background that we welcome the move by the Zimbabwe Schools Examination Council (Zimsec) to open a one-week window period for parents and guardians to pay examination fees for the Ordinary and Advanced Level in local currency, at the prevailing inter-bank rate of $17 558.
Zimsec was quoted in the Press, as saying those who wish to pay in local currency could do so from 13 to 20 March, after which the grace period would lapse.
“The Zimbabwe Schools Examination Council would like to inform its stakeholders, parents/guardians and candidates of the interbank rate which shall apply when making payments for the 2024 June Ordinary and Advanced Level Examination Fees in Zimdollars,” said Zimsec in a statement.
The move has brought a sigh of relief to parents and guardians of examination candidates who might have been struggling to raise the foreign currency so that they could pay the examination fees ahead of the deadline.
By taking the move to allow the exam fees to be paid in local currency, Zimsec as an arm of the Government has proved that it is sensitive to the needs of the ordinary people and is living to the mantra of leaving no one and no place behind.
With the move, we are confident that hundreds of candidates who might have failed to raise the foreign currency are now assured and guaranteed to write the examinations. The children have now been allowed to choose a trajectory for their lives.
Zimbabwe Schools Examination Council (Zimsec)
The positive development should be heeded by all progressive stakeholders in the education sector. It is also against this background that we call upon school authorities not to stifle the process of candidates’ registration by corruptly demanding forex only or inflating the exchange rate.
There are schools that are in remote rural areas where parents and guardians may not have adequate information. It is the moral duty of opinion leaders to share the correct information and assist the communities in choosing the payment methods they are comfortable with.
Considering that it is a drought year, most parents would have sold their livestock to ensure that their children go to school. It will be futile for them not to register their children for the public examination because a school administration has decided to be corrupt.
The Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education should be on the lookout for such tendencies within its ranks. Some will be fleecing parents and guardians by going beyond the stipulated exchange rates but we are confident that the system will not allow that.
The Minister of Primary and Secondary Education, Cde Torerayi Moyo has been on record calling school heads not to be a law unto themselves but to follow the dictates of the Government with detailed discipline.
The examination process begins with the registration of candidates and by setting the record straight, Zimsec has removed the cloud of uncertainty and we hope the process will continue to flow without hurdles.
The country’s examination body has been working round the clock to close all the identified gaps in the running of public examinations and has been lauded for plugging out leakages and retaining the examinations’ integrity. Such milestones cannot be ignored.
