Entrance tests must be regulated not scrapped
EDITOR — Thank you for raising the entrance test issue. This matter has always left me wondering how all pupils can really look for Form One places when Grade 7 results come out.
I read Minister Lazarus Dokora’s statement regarding the issue in 2014 and I thought he made an oversight.
The thing I think the ministry should do is to de-commercialise the process by stipulating a maximum entrance test fee of $5.
This amount is enough to meet all the costs that are associated with the test i.e. stationery and staff allowances.
Way back in 1989 when my son went for the entrance test at a mission boarding school, we were only paying $5. It was reasonable and affordable.
I just wonder how chaotic the situation would be like if all parents criss-crossed the country looking for Form One places at the same time.
That kind of mad rush is stressful for parents and might even be more costly.
The present system where some pupils find places through mid-year entrance tests and others with the Grade Seven results is most convenient to the parents and should be left like that but with the entrance fee being regulated by Government. Murray D B Murambadoro, Via e- mail MINISTER Makhosini Hlongwane in football they say you “play how you trained” meaning if you did not apply yourself fully at training you should not expect miracles. I was listening to some athletes who won medals at the Olympics and they said they had been very busy training over the last four years and that they denied themselves a lot of things so that they could do well. How does Zimbabwe do it — just assemble a few weeks before the games and then hope to do well! Come on guys, lets be serious. — Norest, Chegutu
I WAS caught up in the protests crossfire on Wednesday. Why would someone coming to town for a peaceful demo carry a bag full of stones? What does burning a police truck entail? That truck does not belong to ZRP alone. It belongs to all Zimbabweans because they have paid tax for it. Emptying Choppies simply means you are sabotaging the jobs of all those who work there. I also saw a small cellphone shop being looted of all its stock. Law enforcement must simply round up the perpetrators and make them repent. — Cde Jairos Tapfuma.
THOSE inciting violence through the so-called peaceful demonstrations, God is watching you. Those uttering hateful words causing mayhem, Judgment Day is coming and you are going to answer for your deeds and words. People of Zimbabwe let us pray for the peace and prosperity of Zimbabwe and not be used by those with selfish intentions. — L Makombe.