Parents seeking boarding places for their children urged to apply now

Harare (New Ziana) -The ministry of Primary and Secondary Education has advised parents and guardians who wish to send their children to boarding schools next year to start registering them online and discouraged them from bribing authorities to secure places.

In a statement, Moses Mhike, the ministry’s permanent secretary said online registration started on November 1 and is expected to end on January 15 next year.

“The Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education would like to inform its valued stakeholders including teachers, parents and pupils that pursuant to the end of the Grade 7 examinations for 2023, the 2024 cohort of pupils are expected to start classes on 9 January 2024.”

Mhike said those who wish to register their children for boarding school places in both government and non-government schools should register online through the Electronic Ministry Application Platform (EMAP).

He said his Ministry strives to remain committed to the provision of quality, affordable, accessible, relevant, equitable, inclusive and wholesome education for all Zimbabweans, adding no boarding school is allowed to administer Form One entrance tests.

“Therefore, all heads of boarding schools are expected to abide by the enrolment policy of all boarders seeking Form One placement,” said Mhike.

In an interview with New Ziana on the side lines of a UNICEF media training workshop on reporting for children held in the capital on Friday, Taungana Ndoro, the Ministry’s spokesperson said entrance tests conducted by some schools before admitting pupils for boarding are illegal and warned that those caught engaging in the practice will be dealt with.

He said in an effort to curb corruption in the enrolment process, Government has introduced the Electronic Ministry Application Platform (EMAP) to ensure transparency.

“We have had issues of enrolment which is being paid for, no child in the country or any parent is supposed to pay for enrolment to the school that is nearest to them or to a school that they need their child to be enrolled in, but we are having cases where certain heads of schools ask for kickbacks and underhand dealings with perhaps Schools Development Committees to enrol pupils for Grade 1, ECD and even for Form 1 and 5,” said Ndoro.

New Ziana