The government owes council schools almost ZWL$2million in outstanding payments under the Better Education Assistance Module (BEAM), the Bulawayo City Council (BCC) has said.
BEAM is a national school assistance programme launched by the government in 2001 to pay school fees for orphans and vulnerable children.
According to the latest council minutes, council schools were owed ZWL$1 664 697 633 in outstanding BEAM payments as of January in 2024.
“The total enrolment in all the 31 council schools stood at 44 882 learners. During the term, a total of ZWL$3 537 022 133 was paid for tuition and council levies while ZWL$6 904 597 800 remained outstanding,” read the council minutes.
BCC said it did not receive any BEAM funds as yet for 2023.
“Meanwhile ZWL$1 664 697 633 was the outstanding balance for 2023 BEAM payments. Council was however still very much concerned in terms of huge school fees debtors figures by the parents and guardians of the learners in its schools. Both Council Officers and heads of schools constantly remind and urge parents to pay their dues and honour their promises,” read the council minutes.
The minutes also said BCC was taking measures to make parents honour their obligations and that all new learners would fill out contract forms that required parents to honour payment plans as well as paying fees on or before schools open.
The council said parents and guardians could be sued for breaching this contract as per the education Ministry regulations.
In January 2024, during a meeting with the Minister of Primary and Secondary Education, school heads expressed concerns that the government was delaying the disbursement of BEAM funds, making it difficult for learning institutions to meet their financial obligations.
The school heads noted that by the time the money comes, it would have devalued and would no longer be sufficient because it would be in local currency that is not preferred by most of the service providers.
