The Chronicle

BULAWAYO, Friday, September 18, 1992 — Some schools in Bulawayo have suspended extramural activities because of financial constraints brought about by the Ministry of Education and Culture’s delay in reimbursing general purpose funds to them.

The general purpose fund is a fee which is paid by each pupil together with the school fees and is used by schools to finance extramural activities such as sport, drama and clubs.

It is not paid directly to the schools by the pupils, but to the Ministry of Education and Culture through the Post Office.

In a series of interviews yesterday, several headmasters in the city said they had not received their general purpose fund cheques from the ministry for both the first and second terms.

They explained that when pupils paid their fees at the post offices, they also paid a sum of up to $10, depending on the school, towards the general purpose fund.

The headmasters said the ministry subtracted the total amount paid for the fund from the school fees and made out cheques to the respective schools.

“However, I have still not received my cheques for the first and second terms and my school has, as a result, been forced to suspend extramural activities,” said one headmaster who declined to be named.

Another headmaster, who also declined to be named said: “Although I received my first term cheque last week, the school’s extramural activities have been seriously affected and the harm done was irreversible.”

The regional director for education in Matabeleland North, Mr Robert Gordon, said he was aware of the problem but added the matter was beyond his control as the funds had to come from head office in Harare.