Parents have questioned the government’s position that schools are entitled to pursue guardians over unpaid fees, arguing that economic hardships are making it increasingly difficult for families to meet their obligations, while some schools continue to punish learners for debts they did not incur.
The debate follows comments by Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Ziyambi Ziyambi, who told Parliament on Wednesday that enrolling a child at a school creates a contractual relationship between the institution and the parent or guardian, making adults responsible for paying fees and levies.
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Ziyambi defended the use of debt collectors to recover outstanding fees, saying schools should pursue parents rather than penalise learners by sending them home, excluding them from lessons or withholding examination results.
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This position was shared by Bulawayo North legislator Minenhle Ntandoyenkosi Gumede in a constituency notice titled ‘School Fees Arrears and the Use of Debt Collectors,’ in which she urged parents with outstanding balances to engage school administrations and negotiate realistic payment arrangements.
“Learners should not be made to bear the consequences of financial obligations that are the responsibility of adults,” Gumede said.
She acknowledged schools relied on fees to meet operational costs, purchase learning materials and maintain infrastructure, but maintained children should not be victimised or deprived of their right to education because of their parents’ financial difficulties.
However, the notice sparked debate among residents, with several parents arguing the government could not demand payment from struggling households without addressing the economic conditions contributing to their inability to pay.
One parent said families needed to be adequately resourced to meet their obligations, questioning how schools could be expected to function properly when unemployment, poverty and the informalisation of livelihoods continued to affect households.
“How can we have a dysfunctional economy while at the same time expect to have properly functioning schools?” the parent asked, adding that the government should address the economic challenges facing families.
The MP agreed the economic situation was difficult, saying her notice was intended to alert residents to the possible consequences of outstanding fees and encourage early engagement with schools.
“I totally agree, things are not moving in the right direction and our policies are not pro-people. This is just to protect residents within my constituency, especially to be alert on these developments so that they don’t have to face debt collectors as this may cause distress to residents,” Gumede said.
Another parent questioned how people relying on informal trading could raise school fees when they were also facing displacement from their vending sites.
“And those engaged in vending are being displaced from their vending sites again. Where should they go again to look for the school fees? Should they turn into armed robbers then?” the parent asked.
Others opposed the involvement of court messengers and debt collectors, arguing that pursuing struggling families could deepen their financial distress.
One parent said the government should consider individual incomes and the cost of living when addressing school fee arrears rather than exposing families to further hardship.
However, the debate was not limited to the use of debt collectors, as some parents said the more immediate problem was the continued exclusion of learners from classrooms and the withholding of academic records over unpaid fees.
One parent alleged some schools were removing learners with outstanding fees from classrooms and keeping them in disused buildings until the end of the school day, without teacher supervision.
“Better be they sent home than such a punishment. When they are sent to that disused building, they don’t have a teacher to look after them and they are at a serious risk of bullying each other without supervision,” the parent said.
The MP asked residents to privately provide information about schools in her constituency allegedly engaging in the practice so that the concerns could be followed up.
One, Mkhululi Ncube also recounted an incident at a school where learners with outstanding fees were allegedly removed from classrooms and kept separately while others were writing examinations.
He said the practice raised serious questions about whether children from struggling families were being afforded their right to education.
Other parents alleged schools were withholding reports and examination results over unpaid charges for holiday and weekend lessons, rather than ordinary tuition fees.
One parent questioned why learners should lose access to their results over charges for lessons they might not have attended, particularly where schools allegedly made such payments compulsory.
The concerns prompted calls for the government to make sure its position on protecting learners was implemented by schools, rather than remaining a policy statement discussed in Parliament.
“It shows that when government policy says turn right, school authorities will turn left and nothing can be done about it,” one parent said, expressing frustration that some institutions appeared to disregard Government directives.
The debate also exposed differing views among parents over financial responsibility, with some arguing families should not use economic hardships to justify failing to pay school fees.
One contributor asked whether parents were shifting responsibility to the government instead of acknowledging their own obligations.
Another respondent said holding parents accountable did not give schools the right to mistreat children.
“The position of the law says parents must be held accountable, not to ill-treat the children,” the parent said, arguing that recovering outstanding fees should not involve beating learners or confining them in unsupervised spaces while others continued with lessons.
The parent added that even where parents eventually settled their debts, the learning time lost by children could not be recovered.
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