15 000 children to benefit from BEAM

School children

The government has set aside US$1 million to assist vulnerable children across the country with examination fees under the Basic Education Assistance Module (BEAM).

According to the Director of Social Services in the Ministry of labour and Social Welfare Mr Sydney Mhishi, 15 000 vulnerable children from across the country will benefit from the scheme.

“For Advanced level students, the scheme will provide examination fees for up to three subjects, while for ordinary level students the scheme will provide examination fees for up to six subjects” he said.

He said the money for the school fees had already been dispatched to provincial offices and was ready for disbursement to respective schools.

However, the Bulawayo Progressive Residents Association is calling for transparency and accountability in terms of distribution of the funds to ensure that all provinces in the country benefit equally from the examination fees support.

Coordinator of BPRA Roderick Fayayo said “There is need for the Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare and the Ministry of Education, Sport, Arts and Culture to come up with checks and balances to ensure that there is no corruption in the administration of the money.”

BPRA’s concerns stem after a similar scheme last year failed to adequately benefit vulnerable children in Bulawayo and other areas of Matabeleland, with hundreds failing to sit for examinations as a result.

The association also has concerns with the failure of the authorities to adequately inform the public on how beneficiaries were picked.

Fayayo also said “BPRA is concerned that examination fees in the country are exorbitant and beyond the reach of the majority of Zimbabweans, more than 80 percent of whom are unemployed while those that are employed are earning salaries below the poverty datum line.”

“It is the contention of BPRA that examination fees, which are pegged at $11 for Ordinary Level students and $22 for Advanced Level students,  should be reduced as they are too high and depriving children of their right to education.”

He said the government should revamp the structure of BEAM to ensure that it benefits children who actually need assistance. There is also need for more transparency in the operations of BEAM.

Beam is part of Government's social protection strategy targeting vulnerable children of school going age.

Its primary objective is to reduce the number of school dropouts and to reach children who have never been to school due to economic hardships.

Working in conjunction with Unicef, Government has managed to buy millions of textbooks for primary schools countrywide and another programme for secondary schools will be unveiled soon.