Private schools, government on collision course over Easter exeat

HARARE – The Association of Trust Schools, a grouping of private schools, is on a collision course with the ministry of primary and secondary education after they were denied permission to close for nearly three weeks starting this Easter weekend.

In a letter dated March 30, the ministry said it would not allow the schools to declare an exeat for learners in boarding facilities. The latest snub comes after the government also prevented them from having their own school calendar.

“Please be advised that authority for the proposed exeat for the Association of Trust Schools from the 1st to 19th April has not been granted,” wrote the ministry’s permanent secretary Tumisang Thabela.

The Covid-19 outbreak starting in March last year caused widespread disruption to learning. Government and mission schools did not open for the first term this year until March 15, although private and Trust schools say learning started virtually on schedule in January.

Private schools – whose fees average between US$2,000 and US$5,000 – had wanted their first term to end on March 31 and the second term to start on May 3, but the ministry turned down that request through a circular two weeks ago.

President Emmerson Mnangagwa on Tuesday decreed that all boarding school students will not be allowed to travel home during the Easter holidays, and parents would also not be allowed to visit them, he said as a measure to curb the spread of the virus.

The opposition MDC Alliance on Wednesday claimed that police had been deployed to one private school in Harare to stop parents from collecting their children.

Said MDC Alliance vice president Tendai Biti: “Reports of security agents moving in to prevent parents from taking their children from Trust schools for Easter holidays shows beyond reasonable doubt how deranged and fascist the Mnangagwa’s regime is. The police actions are blatantly unlawful and unconstitutional.”

The government decreed first term will end on June 4, with the second term commencing on June 28 and ending on September 10. The third term will start on October 4 and end on December 17.