JUST IN: Schools Accepts Livestocks, Services, Skills As School Fees
Reports reaching Mouthpiece NG says parents in Zimbabwe who cannot afford school fees can offer livestock such as goats, cow, sheep as payment.
Education minister, Lazarus Dokora told the pro-government Sunday Mail newspaper that schools will have to show flexibility when it comes to demanding tuition fees from parents, and that they should accept not only livestock, but also services and skills.
“If there is a builder in the community, he/she must be given that opportunity to work as a form of payment of tuition fees,” the paper quoted him as saying.
Mouthpiece NG gathered that some schools in rural areas in the country are already accepting livestock as payments.
Clarifying Dr Dokora’s statements, a ministry official said “Parents of the concerned children can pay the fees using livestock. That is mostly for rural areas, but parents in towns and cities can pay through other means; for instance, doing certain work for the school.”
This follows a move last week where Zimbabwe allowed people to use their livestock, such as goats, cows and sheep, to back bank loans.
Under legislation introduced in parliament this week, borrowers would be allowed to register “movable” assets, including motor vehicles and machinery, as collateral, the BBC’s World Business Report said.
It is also gathered that Zimbabwe’s worsening cash crisis means that people frequently spend hours queueing at banks to withdraw cash.
The government says the shortage is due to people taking hard currency out of the country, but critics say it’s due to lack of investment and rising unemployment.