Parents outraged after Rusunguko school demanded extra payment for $120 fee

HARARE – Parents at Rusununguko Secondary School near Goromonzi are protesting against the Zanu PF-owned institution for demanding up to $120 per child in additional fees without consulting or clearing them.

According to a notice sent to parents via a WhatsApp group by CEO Maone Weremu, the school required a top-up of US$30 from students whose entire monthly fees of US$605 were originally paid in US dollars, and a top-up of US$120 from those who who settled on the alternative option of depositing 400 US dollars and the remaining 205 US dollars in ZiG equivalent at the interbank rate.

The decision to demand replenishment, according to Weremu, was influenced by the need to close the deficit that arose as a result of the sharp drop in the cost of ZiG in recent times.

Weremu said the additional budget was for the cost of running the school’s diesel generator, which he said consumed 140 liters per day as it ran from 2am to 8.30pm every day.

He said the generator had become the school’s main source of power due to the long power outages experienced across the country.

“This makes the fuel budget completely insufficient,” Weremu said, adding that the unpopular decision was welcomed by both the DSC and the school management.

Weremu said “the circumstances that led to this development are beyond our control.”

Parents were expected to contribute the additional amount by Saturday, October 26, 2024.

It turned out that the school had gone against parents’ recommendations and opted for a solar system instead of a generator, which they believed was more costly to operate.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, the angry parent alleged blackmail from “greedy” school authorities, whom he accused of trying to get cheap money from the tuition of more than 1,000 students.

The parent said it was an even bigger scam for those with Year 4 children who are due to leave school premises after exams in mid-November and who are still expected to be at the same level as everyone else in terms of surcharges.

Another parent accused authorities of running the school like their own private enterprise, where decisions are made on a whim and are never presented to the education ministry for approval.

“They just set up and unilaterally decided that they needed money and thought they would get that money from us.

“This is doomed to fail for us,” the parent said.

“When we paid our fees, any arrangement that was made, whether it was pure US dollar, half US dollar or something in the zigzag, we said everyone paid the same fees.

“There’s no need to wake up tomorrow and start saying that just because you paid with pure US dollars and someone else split, the top-up amounts are different.”

The parents felt that there should have been a full meeting with all stakeholders where the figures were proposed and reviewed before they were sent to the ministry for approval.

The parent added: “As parents, generally all forms, from 1st to 6th, we say we don’t want to pay anything because they did their budget initially, they forecasted their expenses; Why come back today and say there’s not enough money.”

Weremu did not respond to questions sent to his mobile phone via ZimLive.

However, in the latter case, the school was forced to charge all students a single fee of $30.

“The responsible body of ZimFep has approved an additional fee of US$30 per student to enable the school to complete the semester.

“The plight of the parents was not considered to jeopardize the well-being of the students,” ZimFep’s communications director wrote in correspondence seen by ZimLive.

Despite the relief at the new development, another parent said he still believes the school was not sincere in its initial claims that $120 was needed as a top-up only to cut it down to $30 with a stroke pen without explanation.

“Really, if their math was great and everything was supported, why reduce the cost from $120 to $30.

“Yes, it’s an advantage for us, but there’s a lot going on behind the scenes,” she said.

Rusununguko Secondary School in Melfort near Harare is run by the Zimbabwe Foundation for Education and Production (ZimFep), the education arm of Zanu PF.

The rest of the nearly half-dozen schools run by ZimPhepa did not require any additions, angering Rusunnguko parents.