Zuvarabuda Primary Parents at Loggerheads with Head Over Bus Levy of Newly Acquired School Bus

By Tendai Chisiri

Parents at Zuvarabuda Primary School are seeking to register complaint against the school head over what they say is exorbitant bus levy being charged by the latter of the recently acquired school bus.

The school bus mentioned in an H-metro article as a state-of-the-art bus recently is now at the centre of controversy with the parents saying they cannot afford to pay school bus levy requested. The school bus was purchased on loan from a local bank.

Parents are required to part away with $20 per term on each learner for nine terms. The parents started to pay last year. Each learner will be paying $180US altogether which the parents see as unaffordable and are gathering signatures from each to have the case heard at the ministry, SDC and Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (ZACC).

ZACC is needed as the parents feel the head Great Manyuni Mugadza is milking them as the financial books to be audited transparently.

Calculating the students and the school bus levy to be paid, the parents will have paid around $255 000US for the bus. The parents called for a meeting on Saturday but the School Development Committee (SDC) chairperson Justice Chinamano deferred it to a later date as they said that will be carrying a ministry audit on the day.

The parents resolved to write a letter to the ministry, the school and ZACC to show their disagreement over the recent developments of the school acquiring an expensive bus. The letter has been signed by a number of parents and will be delivered to respective institutions.

“Protest ndiyo irikutodiwa problem vanhu vanotya”, said one parent on condition of anonymity. The parents agreed that they should get a letter from police so that they may protest whilst handing the letter at the school. The letter carries the parents’ grievances over an array of issues ranging from expensive sports wear and expensive private guards with dogs and gun at the school.

The parents are lamenting that the school is become expensive to enroll learners there unlike other government primary schools in the community.

“SDC is no longer doing its mandate. They are defending the school”, said a parent on condition of anonymity after the consultative meeting was cancelled at the last minute.

The head made headlines in the tabloid H-Metro being applauded for choosing a school bus over a personal GD6 car. The bus has seven colour televisions, cameras both inside and outside, two fuel tanks for 800 litres, a communication gadget at the driver’s seat and a refrigerator.

The bus is also going to be used for hire so the parents want the bus levy to be reduced so that the bus pays back the loan through hire services.