THE headmistress of Daramombe High School in Chivhu has told parents who complained about exorbitant school fees to find cheap schools where they might never pay a cent.
This is contained in a highly charged letter to parents and guardians in which Mrs. C Chikasha, the school head, went ballistic on parents who complained over the $32 000 per term school fees.
Chikasha told parents that her school was willing to facilitate transfer letters for pupils whose parents found their fees exorbitant, adding that she had files of students waiting to be enrolled at the school and would be more than happy if the unhappy parents bowed out.
Daramombe was probably the cheapest in the Mashonaland East region, she added.
“Boarding education is a luxury,” says Mrs. Chikasha. “Basic education is everywhere where you can enrol your child and never pay a cent.”
She also said that parents who complained over the so-called top up fees must know that the standards at the Chivhu based school have deteriorated over the years and the only way to rebuild and spruce up school infrastructure was through fees.
The Anglican Diocese of Masvingo looks after nine Primary and five Secondary Schools and, as in other parts of the Zimbabwe, the infrastructure is in desperate need of attention, a source at the school told the Zimbabwe Voice.
“Everything from textbooks and stationery to furniture and staff accommodation is in short supply and the Diocese is helping wherever and however it can,” said the source, adding that parents must know that it required money to secure a bright future for their kids in schools.
Read part of the letter below:
One of the biggest schools in the province is Daramombe High School at the Daramombe Mission in Chivhu. There is also St Francis of Assisi owned by the Roman Catholic Church, in the same Chivhu area.
Daramombe has close to 850 pupils and has recently been able to increase the number of pupils it can take and educate, after the boarding facilities were expanded through the construction of two hostels, one for girls and the other one for boys and a classroom block consisting of two classrooms. – Zimbabwe Voice ■
