Zimbabwe Jails Set To Fill As Government Threatens To Jail Schools Over Fee Hikes

By Sci-Tech News
The Zimbabwe government has capped fees for the country's private schools, threatening school heads with jail terms if they charge more than the gazetted prices as a battle for control over non-government schools intensifies, it was reported Tuesday.

School authorities say legal procedures have not been followed when setting the fees and are challenging the directive.

Education Minister Aeneas Chigwedere said the government had decided to set next term's new fees for Zimbabwe's 61 private schools to protect parents from exploitation, reports the state-controlled Herald newspaper.

Fees at many private schools in Zimbabwe have skyrocketed over the past few years as rampant inflation takes its toll. This has angered President Robert Mugabe's government, which has accused the schools of adopting elitist policies and trying to exclude pupils from poor families.

The new fees for day scholars at exclusive schools like St Georges College and Arundel Girls School in Harare have been set at just 153,000 Zimbabwe dollars per term - 612 US dollars at the official exchange rate but only 64 US at the widely-used parallel rate.

Boarding school fees have been set at 509,858 Zimbabwe dollars (2,039 US at the official rate, 212 US at the market rate), said the Herald.