The
education
ministry
also
maintains
that
public
schools
are
not
allowed
to
force
parents
to
buy
uniforms
as
that
violates
the
parent’s
free
will
of
choice.
These
remarks
were
made
by
the
ministry’s
Director
of
Communications
and
Advocacy,
Taungana
Ndoro,
as
he
outlined
the
government’s
reporting
and
complaints-handling
mechanisms
amid
growing
concerns
from
parents
about
corruption
in
schools,
involving
not
only
teachers
but
also
headmasters
and
School
Development
Committees
(SDCs).
Ndoro
said
teachers
who
charge
learners
for
extra
lessons
are
exploiting
the
authority
of
their
public
positions,
despite
already
receiving
salaries
from
the
government.
“This
is
corruption
in
public
office.
The
office
of
a
teacher
is
the
classroom.
If
that
teacher
is
in
that
classroom
and
uses
the
power
and
authority
within
him
or
her
to
abuse
that
platform,
to
say,
‘parent,
give
me
money
so
that
I
can
teach
your
child,’
a
job
which
you
are
already
being
paid
for
by
government,
then
you
are
corrupt
and
you
are
supposed
to
be
put
to
task,”
he
said
in
a
recent
meeting
in
Bulawayo.
His
comments
come
against
a
backdrop
of
persistent
complaints
from
parents
who
say
they
are
afraid
to
raise
concerns
during
school
meetings
fearing
their
children
may
be
victimised
by
teachers
or
school
authorities.
Parents
have
spoken
out
how
various
schools
in
Bulawayo
and
surrounding
districts
charge
extra
lessons
and
how
these
have
increasingly
become
informal
“pay-to-learn”
schemes,
with
some
teachers
allegedly
threatening
to
neglect
learners
who
do
not
pay.
Ndoro
said
parents
who
suspect
wrongdoing
must
follow
established
reporting
channels,
starting
at
the
lowest
level.
“The
reporting
mechanism
or
complaints
handling
in
the
ministry,
if
you
are
a
parent
and
feel
something
is
amiss
at
the
school,
the
first
port
of
call,
depending
on
the
magnitude,
is
the
class
teacher,
that
is
if
it
has
to
do
with
your
child,”
he
said.
Using
extra
lessons
as
an
example,
Ndoro
said
parents
have
a
right
to
question
why
they
are
being
charged.
“On
extra
lessons,
for
instance,
the
parent
may
ask
why
they
have
to
pay
US$20
or
US$10
a
month
or
a
week,”
he
said.
“You
ask
the
teacher,
and
the
teacher
has
to
respond
to
you,
and
that
response
becomes
the
basis
for
further
complaints.”
Ndoro
dismissed
justifications
often
given
by
teachers
who
argue
that
extra
lessons
are
necessary
to
help
struggling
learners
and
to
supplement
low
salaries.
“If
the
teacher
says,
‘I’m
not
earning
enough
and
I’m
trying
to
supplement,’
that
is
corruption.
“It’s
just
like
an
immigration
officer
who
stamps
your
passport
and
asks
for
US$50,”
he
said.
“Or
a
ZIMRA
officer
who
asks
for
something
after
discovering
goods
that
have
not
paid
duty.
They
are
abusing
public
office.
It’s
the
same
with
teachers.”
Ndoro
warned
that
teachers
found
engaging
in
such
practices
could
face
charges
under
public
service
regulations
and
criminal
law.
“It’s
a
case,
for
which
you
can
face
two
offenses.
One,
through
the
public
service
regulations
and
two,
through
the
criminal
law
and
codification
acts.
You
go
to
court
and
can
end
up
behind
bars
just
for
asking
US$10
from
every
child,
trying
to
enrich
yourself,”
Ndoro
said.
“If
you
are
that
smart,
why
don’t
you
leave
that
classroom
and
form
your
own
school?”
Ndoro
said
unresolved
issues
should
be
escalated
to
the
head
of
the
school,
whom
he
described
as
the
“CEO”
of
each
institution.
“The
head
represents
the
permanent
secretary,
the
minister,
and
in
some
cases
even
the
President,”
he
said.
“When
something
happens
at
a
school,
we
go
straight
to
the
head
and
ask,
‘What
happened,
because
accountability
starts
there.”
However,
Ndoro
acknowledged
systemic
weaknesses,
noting
some
headmasters
and
district
officials
colluded
in
corrupt
practices,
undermining
trust
in
reporting
structures.
“We
have
challenges
where
some
district
school
inspectors
work
hand-in-hand
in
cahoots
with
some
heads
of
schools,”
he
said.
“You
may
find
a
head
giving
crates
of
eggs,
chickens
or
whatever
every
week
to
the
district
school
inspectors
who
then
cannot
investigate.”
The
ministry
spokesperson
said
parents
should
then
escalate
complaints
to
provincial
offices,
which
he
described
as
more
independent
and
if
that
failed,
ultimately
to
head
office.
“It’s
very
unlikely
that
the
province
would
be
corrupted
because
for
instance
in
Matabeleland
South,
the
provincial
office
is
in
Gwanda.
When
you
send
someone
from
Gwanda
to
Mangwe,
there
may
not
be
any
linkages,”
he
said.
“If
that
fails,
because
it
does
fail
at
times,
that’s
when
you
come
to
the
head
office.
The
permanent
secretary,
normally,
is
the
final
decision
maker
in
those
cases.
Beyond
that,
you
take
us
to
court.
These
are
the
reporting
structures
until
you
are
satisfied
that
your
complaint
has
been
handled.”
Beyond
extra
lessons,
Ndoro
also
addressed
complaints
about
schools
forcing
parents
to
buy
uniforms
from
the
institution
as
a
condition
for
enrolment,
describing
the
practice
as
illegal.
“There
was
talk
of
schools
saying
for
Form
One
or
Lower
Six,
purchase
uniforms
to
be
guaranteed
a
place,”
he
said,
citing
Thekwane
High
School
as
a
case
currently
under
investigation.
“The
minister
announced
it
on
television:
no
school
is
allowed
to
force
parents
to
buy
uniforms
at
that
school,”
Ndoro
said.
He
said
parents
are
free
to
buy
uniforms
from
any
supplier
as
long
as
colour
codes
are
adhered
to.
“The
moment
a
school
starts
commercial
ventures,
whether
uniforms,
chickens,
tomatoes,
it
announces
itself
as
being
in
competition
with
the
market,”
he
said.
“But
competition
does
not
mean
monopoly,
you
cannot
force
parents.”
Ndoro
said
schools
that
compel
parents
to
buy
uniforms
or
stationery
from
them
are
acting
unlawfully.
“If
a
blazer
is
US$35
in
the
market
and
US$45
at
school,
parents
will
go
to
the
market,”
he
said.
“You
don’t
need
to
force
them
and
if
it’s
vice
versa,
parents
will
buy
at
the
school.”
He
urged
communities
to
report
such
cases
through
official
channels,
“so
that
parents
do
not
suffer
in
silence.”
Ndoro
also
clarified
that
while
the
ministry’s
uniform
policy
primarily
applies
to
public
schools,
private
schools
operate
under
contractual
arrangements.
“When
you
send
your
child
to
a
non-government
school,
you
have
made
your
choice
to
say
that
you
want
education
that
is
provided
outside
the
public
system.
This
is
sort
of
like
a
private
arrangement
in
which
you
get
into
a
contractual
agreement
with
the
schools
and
you
sign
various
contracts,”
he
said.
“If
you
don’t
read
the
fine
print
of
that
contract,
there’s
not
much
we
can
do
when
you
come
to
us
as
the
ministry.
If
you
breach
that
contract,
they
will
take
you
to
court
outside
of
us
because
you’ve
made
the
contract
in
a
private
civil
arrangement.”
However,
Ndoro
maintained
that
private
schools
are
still
subject
to
ministry
oversight
in
areas
such
as
fee
approvals
and
travel
clearances.
