By
Evidence
Chenjerai,
Global
Press
Journal
Zimbabwe
Having
bought
all
required
reading
and
writing
materials,
Mlambo,
a
government
employee,
was
comfortable
knowing
the
only
thing
she
still
had
to
pay
was
their
school
fees.
Mlambo
always
pays
fees
for
her
children
within
a
few
days
of
schools
reopening.
On
her
first
visit
to
the
school,
she
was
told
the
point-of-sale
machine
used
for
card
payments
wasn’t
working.
“I
went
home
and
came
back
the
next
day
to
be
told
there
were
network
challenges
with
the
banking
system,”
says
Mlambo,
who
on
her
third
visit
encountered
the
same
hurdles.
This
time
she
was
advised
by
a
cashier
at
the
office
to
change
her
Zimbabwean
dollars
to
United
States
dollars
and
make
the
payment,
“as
children
whose
school
fees
hadn’t
been
paid
would
be
sent
back
home.”
In
June
2023,
Zimbabwe’s
annual
inflation
rate
went
up
to
175.8%
from
May’s
86.5%.
The
inflation
rate
measures
change
in
the
consumer
price
index,
which
tracks
the
costs
of
a
marketbasket
of
goods
and
services.
Most
Zimbabwean
workers
are
paid
in
the
local
currency
even
though
goods
and
services
are
largely
charged
in
US
dollars.
Some
businesses
accept
local
currency,
but
at
black
market
rates.
Fuel
stations
and
small
shops,
for
instance,
take
only
US
dollars
and
usually
charge
lower
prices
than
supermarkets.
Despite
a
government
directive
in
2021
to
penalize
companies
charging
for
their
services
in
US
dollars,
companies
argue
that
they
need
the
foreign
currency
to
buy
stock.
The
second-term
schools
opening
exposed
the
lack
of
confidence
in
the
local
currency
with
some
schools
refusing
payment
made
in
Zimbabwean
dollars.
Schools
were
allowed
by
the
government
to
charge
fees
in
US
dollars,
with
an
option
for
parents
to
pay
the
Zimbabwean-dollar
equivalent.
The
insistence
by
some
schools
to
have
fees
paid
only
in
US
dollars,
however,
resulted
in
children
being
sent
back
home
as
many
parents
couldn’t
afford
it.
By
the
school’s
third
term,
the
situation
improved
somewhat
for
Mlambo
after
she
was
allowed
to
pay
half
the
fees
in
local
currency
and
the
other
half
in
US
dollars.
But
uncertainty
still
lingers
for
parents
who
have
to
contend
with
unpredictable
payment
policies.
The
matter
was
even
raised
in
Parliament
last
May,
when
lawmakers
questioned
Edgar
Moyo,
the
then-deputy
minister
of
the
Ministry
of
Primary
and
Secondary
Education,
on
why
schools
were
refusing
fees
paid
in
Zimbabwean
dollars.
In
his
response,
Moyo
said
it
was
illegal
and
asked
affected
parents
to
contact
relevant
district
school
inspectors.
Zimbabwean
currency
evolution
Zimbabweans
continue
to
feel
the
effects
of
the
country’s
weakening
dollar,
which
drastically
lost
value
against
the
US
dollar
in
the
first
half
of
2023.
From
1980,
the
official
currency
of
the
country
was
an
earlier
version
of
the
Zimbabwean
dollar
that
was
used
till
its
demonetization
in
2009
due
to
hyperinflation.
Demonetization
is
the
process
of
officially
removing
the
legal
status
of
a
currency
unit.
To
try
to
end
the
ensuing
multicurrency
system
—
that
relied
on
the
US
dollar
and
South
African
rand
—
and
stabilize
the
economy,
the
government
introduced
the
new
Zimbabwean
dollar
in
early
2019.
The
new
Zimbabwean
dollar
was
the
only
official
currency
in
the
country
up
to
March
2020
at
the
start
of
the
coronavirus
pandemic,
after
which
foreign
currencies
were
legalized
again,
with
US
dollars
and
Zimbabwean
dollars
being
the
main
ones
in
circulation.
With
the
weakening
of
the
Zimbabwean
dollar,
the
US
dollar
has
become
the
preferred
currency.
In
order
to
promote
use
of
the
local
currency,
a
two-currency
system
was
adopted
in
2022.
That
April,
the
Central
Bank
introduced
the
“willing
buyer,
willing
seller”
foreign
exchange
market
trading
system
to
establish
an
official
exchange
rate.
In
late
October
2023,
the
government
extended
the
multicurrency
tenure
to
2030.
Situation
for
schoolchildren
Mlambo’s
school
fees
were
pegged
at
110
US
dollars
for
her
child
in
the
second
class
of
high
school
and
35
US
dollars
for
her
fourth-grader.
“We
usually
pay
the
fees
in
the
currency
you
have:
US
dollars
or
Zimbabwean
dollar
equivalent
of
the
US
dollar
at
the
official
rate,”
she
says.
The
official
rate
changes
every
day
and
is
announced
by
the
Reserve
Bank
of
Zimbabwe.
Not
wanting
her
children
to
miss
school,
Mlambo
made
the
difficult
choice
to
change
her
Zimbabwean
dollars
to
US
dollars
on
the
black
market
—
where
the
exchange
rate
is
higher
than
the
official
rate.
“The
rate
at
which
I
changed
was
very
high,
so
I
ended
paying
more
than
I
would
have,
had
I
paid
in
Zimbabwean
dollars,”
Mlambo
says.
Taungana
Ndoro,
the
education
ministry
spokesman,
says
it
is
illegal
for
schools
to
peg
fees
exclusively
in
US
dollars.
He
says
it
is
the
ministry’s
policy
that
fees
be
paid
in
either
currency
at
the
official
rate
of
the
day.
“There
is
no
school
that
is
allowed
to
refuse
Zimbabwean
dollars.
All
schools
that
provide
primary
and
secondary
education
fall
under
the
authority
of
the
[ministry]
and
should
comply,”
he
says.
Ndoro
adds
no
child
should
be
turned
away
from
school
for
non-payment
of
fees
as
there
is
a
constitutional
policy
deterring
this.
Plight
of
schools
Former
Education
Minister
David
Coltart
says
the
treasury
department
only
causes
suffering
by
trying
to
hold
on
to
Zimbabwean
dollars
no
one
wants
and
few
accept
because
the
currency
easily
loses
value
in
a
hyperinflationary
economy.
“It
is
particularly
problematic
in
the
education
sector
because
you
get
payment
of
fees
at
the
beginning
of
the
term,
but
not
all
expenses
are
incurred
then
but
spread
over
three
or
four
months,”
he
says.
Given
volatility
that
can
see
a
Zimbabwean
dollar’s
value
plummet
within
a
few
days,
“that
money
paid
at
the
beginning
of
the
term
will
be
worthless
by
end
of
the
term,”
he
says.
The
situation
forces
parents
to
pay
additional
fees
because
what
has
already
been
paid
cannot
cover
school
materials,
Coltart
says.
He
faults
the
government
for
inadequate
funding
of
education.
“Funding
priorities
are
skewed.
Judges
were
given
400,000
US
dollars
[for]
housing
loans
and
cabinet
ministers
500,000
US
dollars.
Put
that
in
the
education
context
—
this
money
would
pay
for
thousands
of
young
children
to
go
to
school.
So
budget
priorities
have
to
be
revised.”
Ngara,
who
heads
a
school
just
outside
Mutare
and
asked
to
be
referred
to
only
by
his
clan’s
totem
for
fear
of
retribution,
says
getting
fees
in
Zimbabwean
dollars
makes
it
difficult
to
manage
a
school.
“In
my
case,
the
school
is
in
a
rural
setting
and
everyone
then
tends
to
pay
in
the
local
currency
as
most
don’t
have
access
to
US
dollars,”
he
says.
He
says
the
school,
through
the
school
development
committee
which
helps
run
school
affairs,
convinced
parents
that
a
portion
of
the
fees
be
paid
in
US
dollars.
“We
explained
to
the
parents
that
there
will
not
be
any
meaningful
development
if
all
fees
came
in
local
currency,
and
they
understood,”
he
says.
Teacher
salaries
are
affected
too
Coltart
says
the
currency
situation
affects
the
quality
of
education.
Aside
from
trying
to
maintain
the
physical
fabric
of
schools,
he
adds,
the
government
also
should
try
to
maintain
teacher
morale
as
teachers
are
the
most
important
element
of
any
education
system.
“Teachers
are
paid
in
Zimbabwean
dollars
and
that
rarely
goes
up
in
accordance
with
the
rate.
Converted
into
hard
currency
[US
dollars],
you
come
up
with
a
ridiculous
figure.”
Progressive
Teachers
Union
Zimbabwe
—
the
biggest
union
representing
teachers
in
the
country
—
says
inflation
has
eroded
teacher
salaries.
“The
salaries
that
are
trickling
in
induce
a
sense
of
shock,”
the
union
wrote
in
a
June
2023
post
on
X,
formerly
known
as
Twitter.
Most
teachers
received
about
240,000
Zimbabwean
dollars,
which
translated
to
just
27
US
dollars
on
the
black
market,
they
said.
The
union
called
on
the
government
to
ditch
the
local
currency
when
issuing
paychecks.
Economist
Prosper
Chitambara
says
in
order
to
control
inflation,
its
drivers
have
to
be
identified
first.
In
the
case
of
Zimbabwe,
“to
address
inflation
you
then
have
to
control
money
supply
through
monetary
policy
reforms.”
He
says
a
dual-currency
system
is
necessary
until
confidence
is
restored
in
the
country’s
fiscal
and
monetary
policies.
Meanwhile,
schools
are
getting
innovative
to
stay
within
their
budgets.
Lee
Chihwa,
a
parent
with
a
child
in
fourth
grade
at
a
local
primary
school
in
Sakubva,
a
suburb
of
Mutare,
says
he’s
no
longer
asked
to
pay
additional
fees
since
the
school
came
up
with
a
chicken-rearing
project.
“Once
matured,
the
chickens
are
sold
in
US
dollars
only,
meaning
the
school
has
a
guaranteed
US
dollar
income,”
Chihwa
says.
Many
schools
in
the
urban
area
are
adopting
such
ideas,
he
adds.
“I
know
of
piggery,
fishery
projects.
Some
schools
are
even
hiring
out
buses,
school
facilities
like
halls
to
churches
on
Sundays
for
extra
income
in
US
dollars.”
Tadiwanashe
Moyo,
a
parent
leader
at
her
child’s
primary
school
in
Mutare,
says
parents
agreed
to
pay
fees
in
US
dollars
at
the
school.
“We
pay
[the
equivalent
of]
35
US
dollars
per
child
and
we
agreed
as
parents
that
20
US
dollars
has
to
come
as
cash
in
US
dollars
and
the
remainder
in
Zimbabwean
dollars
at
the
prevailing
bank
rate.”
She
says
the
school
runs
sustainability
projects
such
as
rearing
chicken
that
require
US
dollars
in
expenses
but
also
generate
profit
in
the
same
currency.
Where
possible
they
get
goods
that
can
be
bought
in
the
local
currency
from
shops
in
the
neighborhood
that
charge
the
official
rate.
Mlambo
says
the
government
should
monitor
and
remind
schools
about
the
dual-currency
payment
requirement.
She
says
it
is
difficult
to
simply
“report
it’’
because,
without
hard
evidence,
schools
can
deny
they
are
only
accepting
US
dollars.
Parents
also
fear
how
their
children
would
be
treated
should
they
protest.
“Children
may
be
treated
badly
at
school
after
this.
It
will
damage
a
child
mentally
and
their
concentration
at
school
may
suffer,
so
parents
choose
to
suffer
in
silence,”
she
says.
This
story
was
originally
published
by
Global
Press
Journal
–
https://globalpressjournal.com/africa/zimbabwe/pandoras-lunchbox-school-fees-embody-chaos-zimbabwes-currency-system/
Global
Press
Journal
is
an
award-winning
international
non-profit
news
publication
that
employs
local
women
reporters
in
more
than
40
independent
news
bureaus
across
Africa,
Asia
and
Latin
America.
Post
published
in:
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