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NewsDay

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Chaos over Form One enrolment

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Primary and Secondary Education minister Lazarus Dokora’s arbitrary decision to order all secondary schools throughout the country to enrol Form One students on the same day tomorrow is reportedly causing havoc within the education sector, NewsDay has learnt.

Primary and Secondary Education minister Lazarus Dokora’s arbitrary decision to order all secondary schools throughout the country to enrol Form One students on the same day tomorrow is reportedly causing havoc within the education sector, NewsDay has learnt.

BY AUDREY MUTASA

Dokora last month issued an order to the effect that all Form One enrolments for 2016 would be conducted on December 4.

Lazarus-Dokora

Zimbabwe Teachers’ Association chief executive officer, Sifiso Ndlovu described Dokora’s move as flying in the face of freedom of choice.

“Instructions like these that relate to a centralised command of doing things go against the grain of freedom of choice. Besides disrupting routines that school administrations have been used to, the minister has by the stroke of a pen constrained the choices that parents had before,” Ndlovu said yesterday.

“Now someone has to go to one particular school and make sure their child gets a place. But then there is the issue of schools demanding a particular range of results, which makes life extremely difficult for parents and guardians.”

A headmaster in Mashonaland East, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said they were adopting “a wait-and-see attitude”.

A parent in Zvishavane, Thomas Shunyai, said he did not understand why Dokora was forcing parents to enrol their children on the same day across the country.

“Previously, we would have a bit of time until after Christmas to run around for the fees. Now I am being forced to find the money, at a time when I am struggling to feed my family. Times are hard and we do not need a Cabinet minister to worsen an already desperate situation,” he said.

The Anglican Church, which runs several schools across the country, said it was also facing headaches on how to deal with the order.

“We cannot plan until the very last minute when the children have come to the different schools for the interviews,” said an official on condition of anonymity. Dokora banned entrance tests, arguing they were a burden on already strained Zimbabweans and had turned into a money-making venture for school authorities while discriminating against some children.