Zimbabwean Catholic school among 46 closed for raising tuition

Published: 2004-05-21

CAPE TOWN, South Africa (CNS) -- A Catholic school in Zimbabwe was among 46 private schools closed by the government for raising fees without permission. St. George's College, a Jesuit-run secondary school in Harare, was among the schools unexpectedly ordered not to open for the start of the new term May 3 by education minister Aeneas Chigwedere, who accused the schools of raising fees to "racist" levels to exclude black pupils. Police were posted at the schools to enforce the ruling. Fees were raised "not for the schools to make a profit, but to them keep out of spiraling debt," Archbishop Pius Ncube of Bulawayo said, noting that many church schools already have enormous debt. The Catholic Church in Zimbabwe operates about 300 primary and secondary schools, many of which are boarding schools. The southern African country has an inflation rate of 600 percent, but the government insisted that schools could only raise fees for the second quarter of the year by a maximum of 10 percent. "If this kind of increase is enforced, the standard of education will drop drastically," Archbishop Ncube said in a May 19 telephone interview from Bulawayo.

Copyright (c) 2004 Catholic News Service /U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. The CNS news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed, including but not limited to such means as framing or any other digital copying or distribution method, in whole or in part without the prior written authority of Catholic News Service .