Parents at Rusununguko High School, near Goromonzi, are reportedly opposing the school’s unexpected demand for additional tuition ranging from $30 to $120 per child without previous consultation or approval.
This decision, announced by CEO Maone Veremu via WhatsApp, affects both students who paid their termly fees of $605 in USD and those who chose the alternate payment plan of $400 USD and $205 ZiG equivalent at the interbank rate.
“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”
The school reportedly blames this move to a considerable decrease in the value of Zimbabwe’s currency, which resulted in a deficit.
The supplemental budget is specifically intended to offset the costs of operating the school’s diesel generator, which uses 140 liters per day due to the country’s prolonged power outages. The generator has become the principal energy source.
Rusununguko High School, founded in 1981, is proud to be one of Zimbabwe’s top-ranked schools, stressing intelligence, discipline, and honesty.
However, the surprise cost increase has raised concerns among parents, who believe they should have been consulted in the decision-making process.
Parents were expected to pay the additional amount by Saturday, October 26, 2024. It was discovered that the school went against parents’ suggestions and settled for a solar system instead of the generator, which they believed was more expensive to run.
An irate parent, speaking on the condition of anonymity, accused “greedy” school officials of blackmailing him by attempting to get cheap cash from an enrolment of over 1,000 students.
The parent claimed it was an even bigger fraud for those with Form 4 children, who were supposed to leave the school grounds following examinations in mid-November but were still forced to pay top-up fees in line with the others.
“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.” SOURCE: ZIMLIVE
