The Bulawayo City Council (BCC) is owed almost $300 000 in unpaid fees for the Basic Education Assistance Module (Beam) programme by the government since 2014.
According to the latest council minutes, only seven schools reported having received some payment for Beam pupils by the government by the third term of 2018.
BCC has twenty-nine primary schools and one secondary school.
“Tuition fees owing for Beam was $273 849.00. It was hoped that Central Government will come up with measures to clear this debt which had been accumulating since 2014,” read the minutes.
School Development Committee (SDC) levies were $250 430.00, summing up unpaid fees inclusive of arrears to $2 333 143.00
Council said the huge debt was affecting the quality of education rendered to pupils and hoped better prospects in the macroeconomic environment which will ease the challenges being faced by the citizenry and in turn impacting on the payment of fees ability by parents.
“This represented a huge debt owed to Council by the parents and guardians of learners in the greater Bulawayo. Ultimately this affected the provision of quality educational services by the City Council,” read the minutes.
A total of 39868 learners were enrolled in the Council schools during the third term of 2018 and payments for tuition and Council fees amounted to $679 417.00.
The government required $33 million to pay for students under Beam in 2018, while it also owed different schools countrywide $82 million unpaid fees for Beam students since 2014.
