The Chronicle

BULAWAYO, Saturday, May 9, 1992 — Some people in Bulawayo have described the increases in O and A-level examination fees as a move designed to deprive the people of their right to education.

The Ministry of Information and Telecommunications announced in a statement on Thursday that the University of London had increased its examination fees with effect from January next year. The new examination fees at O-level will be$189 a subject and $342 a subject at A-level.

People interviewed in Bulawayo in a snap survey yesterday complained that the Government was pushing education away from the reach of the poor.

Mr Patson Ncube, a father of two, said the Government was failing to realise that there were some people who were not earning as much as what senior people in Government were earning.

He said it was going to be more and more difficult for the poor to educate their children because parents were already struggling to raise school fees.

“I have two children who have not yet started going to school and I would hate to think how much I would be paying by the time they write their examinations,” said Mr Ncube.

Mr Ncube’s sentiments were echoed by Mrs Jenia Musvaburi. She said life was going to be tough for most people and that it now seemed as though education was now exclusively for those who have well-paying jobs.

Miss Gladys Xaba, from Nkosikasi area in Matabeleland North, is unemployed and has two children in Forms One and Three.

She said she could not make enough money through selling jerseys she knits although her children go to school in the rural areas where it is cheaper. “I always find myself having to borrow money to supplement what I would have made,” said Miss Xaba.