HARARE
–
Parents
at
Rusununguko
High
School
near
Goromonzi
are
up
in
arms
with
the
Zanu
PF
owned
learning
institution
which
has
demanded
up
to
US$120
per
child
as
top
up
fees
without
consulting
and
agreeing
with
them.
According
to
a
notice
sent
to
parents
via
a
WhatsApp
group
by
the
CEO
Maone
Veremu,
the
school
was
demanding
US$30
top-up
from
learners
whose
entire
termly
fees
of
US$605
were
initially
paid
in
US
dollars
and
US$120
top-up
from
those
who
had
settled
for
the
alternative
option
of
depositing
US$400
and
the
US$205
remainder
in
ZiG
equivalent
at
interbank
rate.
The
decision
to
demand
top-up,
according
to
Vheremu,
was
influenced
by
the
need
to
plug
the
deficit
created
by
the
sharp
decline
in
the
value
of
ZiG
recently.
Vheremu
said
the
supplementary
budget
was
targeting
costs
of
running
the
school’s
diesel
generator
which
he
claimed
was
guzzling
140
litres
a
day
as
it
was
running
from
2AM
to
8.30PM
everyday.
He
said
the
generator
had
become
the
main
source
of
energy
at
the
school
owing
to
prolonged
power
outages
being
experienced
in
the
country.
“This
makes
the
budget
for
fuel
totally
inadequate,”
said
Vheremu,
adding
that
the
unpopular
decision
was
approved
by
both
the
DSC
and
school
authorities.
Vheremu
said
“the
circumstances
that
led
to
this
development
are
beyond
our
control”.
Parents
were
expected
to
have
paid
the
top
up
by
Saturday
26
October
2024.
It
emerged
the
school
went
against
parents’
recommendations
to
settle
for
a
solar
system
instead
of
the
generator
which
they
argued
was
more
costly
to
run.
Speaking
on
condition
of
anonymity,
an
angry
parent
cried
blackmail
by
“greedy”
school
authorities
he
accused
of
attempts
to
harvest
cheap
cash
from
an
enrolment
of
over
a
thousand
learners.
The
parent
said
it
was
even
a
bigger
scam
for
those
with
Form
4
kids
who
are
meant
to
leave
the
school
premises
after
exams
mid-November
and
were
still
expected
to
be
at
par
with
the
rest
in
terms
of
top-up
fees.
Another
parent
accused
the
authorities
of
running
the
school
like
their
own
private
enterprise
where
decisions
are
made
at
a
passing
whim
and
are
never
presented
to
the
education
ministry
for
approval.
“They
just
set
and
unilaterally
decided
that
they
want
money
and
thought
they
were
going
to
get
that
money
from
us.
“To
us,
that
is
a
nonstarter,”
said
the
parent.
“When
we
paid
our
fees,
any
arrangement
that
was
made,
be
it
pure
USD,
half
USD
and
ZiG
whatever,
we
said
everyone
paid
the
same
fees.
“There
is
no
need
to
wake
up
tomorrow
and
start
saying
just
because
you
paid
pure
USD
and
the
other
one
split,
top-up
amounts
are
different.”
Parents
felt
there
should
have
been
a
fully
constituted
meeting
with
all
stakeholders
involved
where
figures
are
suggested
and
tested
before
being
forwarded
to
the
ministry
to
approve.
Added
the
parent,
“As
parents,
generally
all
the
Forms,
from
Form
One
to
upper
6,
we
are
saying
we
do
not
want
to
pay
anything,
because
they
initially
did
their
budget,
they
projected
their
costs;
why
come
back
today
and
say
the
money
is
not
enough.”
Vheremu
did
not
respond
to
questions
sent
to
him
via
his
mobile
phone
by
ZimLive.
However,
in
a
latter
development,
the
school
was
forced
to
charge
a
uniform
US$30
on
all
learners.
“The
responsible
authority
ZimFep
has
approved
the
fee
top
up
of
US$30
per
learner
to
enable
the
school
to
complete
the
term.
“The
plight
of
the
parents
has
been
considered
at
the
same
time
not
compromising
the
welfare
of
the
learners,”
wrote
ZimFep
director
of
communication
in
correspondence
seen
by
ZimLive.
While
relieved
by
the
new
development,
another
parent
said
he
still
felt
the
school
was
not
sincere
in
its
initial
claims
US$120
was
needed
as
top-up
only
to
slash
it
to
just
US$30
at
the
stroke
of
a
pen
without
explanation.
“Realistically,
if
their
mathematics
was
on
point
and
everything
was
supported,
why
would
you
reduce
from
US$120
to
US$30.
“Yes,
it
is
an
advantage
to
us
but
a
lot
is
happening
behind
the
scenes,”
she
said.
Rusununguko
High
School
in
Melfort
outside
Harare
is
operated
by
the
Zimbabwe
Foundation
for
Education
with
Production
(ZimFep),
an
education
wing
under
Zanu
PF.
The
rest
of
the
nearly
half
dozen
schools
under
ZimFep
have
not
demanded
any
top-up,
something
that
has
riled
parents
at
Rusunnguko.