Bulawayo community actors say Zimbabwe’s schools are sliding into criminal spaces, as weak government enforcement is enabling corruption in admissions, examinations, staff recruitment, procurement, asset ownership and the monetisation of extra lessons.
These concerns were raised on Thursday during a public dialogue on Community Voices on Corruption in the Delivery of Education Services, organised by Transparency International Zimbabwe (TIZ) in Bulawayo, where parents, civil society actors and policy analysts lamented how the education sector is poorly regulated by authorities.
The discussion also came against the backdrop of a CITE investigation that exposed how a bus levy scandal in Bulawayo schools has allegedly morphed into a multi-million-dollar corruption scheme, implicating Vordim Trading, a Bulawayo-based company accused by whistle-blowers of bribing school officials, manipulating procurement systems and inflating the prices of school buses by hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Speaking during the panel discussion, Jacqueline Ndlovu from the Women’s Institute for Leadership Development (WILD) said corruption in education procurement and governance was deepening inequality, particularly for women and girls.
“We work in communities doing capacity strengthening so communities can demand accountability,” Ndlovu said.
“We work with women to occupy leadership spaces because where you are not represented, issues will not be amplified.”
She said while Matabeleland historically and “matriarchally” valued the education of the girl child, economic hardship and corruption were eroding those gains.
“You will find many girls educated, but over time, due to struggles in Zimbabwe, education inequalities are amplified, especially in rural areas,” she said.
Ndlovu pointed to infrastructure projects allegedly distorted by corruption, saying communities were paying the price.
“During the flood season, young children cannot cross rivers because somewhere along procurement, someone abused money meant to build a bridge,” she said.
She also criticised inflated school construction costs, citing examples of early childhood development (ECD) blocks with sub-standard facilities.
“You find schools constructing two-classroom ECD blocks with poor-standard toilets, and the cost is exaggerated to US$125 000,” she said.
“Parents are then forced to pay US$120 over nine or 10 terms. Women cannot afford that.”
According to Ndlovu, unaffordable fees were driving the growth of unregistered schools in urban areas.
“Secondary school admission fees are now around US$280. Informal women are already struggling. Schools demand money for extra lessons, uniforms and stationery sold at the school,” she said, adding that girls were the most affected.
“People then borrow cultures that say investing in the girl child is futile because she will marry. As a result, more girls are dropping out of school.”
Policy analyst, Effie Ncube, argued corruption in schools was a symptom of state retreat from regulation.
“Our education sector is over-deregulated. To be honest, the government is no longer there. They are somewhere in Harare. There is absolutely no government,” he said.
Ncube said the absence of effective oversight had emboldened school authorities, teachers and School Development Committees (SDCs) to operate with impunity.
“How on earth do we have schools with three, four, five buses without libraries, without laboratories? Where is the government when that is happening?” he asked.
Ncube said schools were prioritising prestige assets over learning infrastructure, often justifying buses as income-generating projects.
“After school, they become transport companies, hiring buses for weddings and funerals. Where is that money going? It is not accounted for in many schools,” he said.
He warned corruption had permeated every aspect of school administration.
“We need enforceable policy because schools are now serious crime scenes, from admissions, examinations, staff recruitment, procurement and assets,” Ncube said.
He cited admissions corruption, where school heads allegedly imposed arbitrary entry requirements to boost pass rates.
“A new head comes in and decides that Form One learners must have six units. Automatically, that school no longer belongs to the community,” he said.
“Parents then have to bribe for their children to be admitted.”
Ncube also criticised exorbitant school trips and levies.
“One parent said their child was required to pay US$500 to go to Chinhoyi Caves, not London. Chinhoyi is here. These things happen because the government is not there,” he said.
Ncube called for stronger state presence, anti-corruption policies and digital systems such as e-procurement to curb manipulation.
“We need more government, not less government, regulating what is happening in schools,” he said.
Responding to the concerns, the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education acknowledged corruption challenges but argued that weak community participation was enabling abuse by some SDCs and school heads.
Director of Communications and Advocacy, Taungana Ndoro, said the problem often originated from corrupt SDC committees claiming to act on behalf of parents.
“We have the school development assembly, which is all parents, and then the SDC is selected to represent the parents. The moment this committee is corrupt, (it causes trouble). If the head of the school is also corrupt and the committee is also corrupt, the committee will come in saying, ‘we are keeping the mandate of the parents and the parents have agreed that we purchase the bus at the supplier, which is supplying the bus at $210 000,” Ndoro said.
Ndoro said such corruption was often legitimised through paperwork.
“There are minutes, signatures, approvals from the province and head office. A school takes a US$210 000 loan to buy a bus, and parents are left to pay. Then they complain later,” he said.
He acknowledged some schools were acquiring buses without basic infrastructure.
“The community sees deterioration, sees schools buying buses without labs or perimeter walls, but remains quiet,” Ndoro said.
He also likened SDC representation to parliamentary representation, arguing that absence allowed abuse.
“Just like an MP represents even those who didn’t vote, SDCs represent parents who don’t attend meetings,” Ndoro said.
Ndoro cited cases in Matabeleland North and South where parents working outside the country were not present to challenge school decisions.
“We have a challenge, particularly in Matabeleland South and Matabeleland North and parts of Bulawayo where parents are absent. They are in South Africa and Botswana, leaving their children to be raised by grandparents, or some of them are child-aided families,” he said.
“When the head calls for a parents’ meeting, there are very few real parents there. Gogo doesn’t go because she’s too tired to walk the school distance and the child in the child headed family will be doing something else. You end up having just a few parents who then get into a deal with the head of the school and say, ‘okay, we have agreed, let’s increase the fees.’”
Ndoro cited a recent case of a school in Tsholotsho, where fees doubled and parents in South Africa complained they were not consulted.
“We had to reconvene another meeting and ask gogos to come and those guardians who stayed with those children to come,” he said.
Ndoro insisted the ministry remained open to whistle-blowers.
“The community should not keep quiet. We will protect your identities even if you write to us or WhatsApp, we investigate the issue.
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