School Principal Arrested Over Grade Seven Exam Fees

Parents raised concerns after 41 Grade Seven learners were reportedly left unregistered for their examinations.

By Staff Reporter

HARARE- The principal of Emirates Primary School in Retreat, Waterfalls, Harare, has been arrested over alleged failure to remit Grade Seven examination fees for 41 learners, leaving parents scrambling to secure alternative arrangements for their children.

Rosemary Matunga was detained after the school allegedly transferred examination fees for only six of its candidates to Hatfield Primary School, where Emirates had arranged for its Grade Seven learners to sit their examinations. Emirates Primary School does not have its own examination centre number, according to reports, and had therefore made arrangements for its candidates to register through Hatfield Primary School.

The problem emerged as the examinations began on Monday, September 21, with parents and guardians discovering that 41 learners had allegedly not been registered. Parents said they had paid the examination fees in full and had not been informed that the money for their children's registration had not been remitted. “We were not told that the school failed to pay for the examination fees,” one parent said.

“We all paid the fees, but the school decided to squander the money. We questioned their professionalism.” The allegations prompted growing anger among parents, some of whom threatened to demonstrate against the school authorities and its owner, identified as Mr Pereka.

According to reports, the Zimbabwe School Examinations Council (ZIMSEC) subsequently intervened after parents raised the issue, with arrangements being made for the affected learners to sit the examinations at another school. One parent said the intervention came after parents threatened to protest. “After threatening to demonstrate against the school authorities, ZIMSEC officials asked to meet us and allowed our children to sit for the examination at another school,” the parent said.

The incident has raised questions over the handling of examination fees and the responsibility of private schools to ensure that candidates are properly registered before examinations begin. Parents said they had assumed that their payments had been processed and that their children were duly registered. The school owner, Pereka, confirmed that the matter had arisen but said efforts were underway to resolve it.

“Yes, our school is yet to register to become an examination centre, but everything is being sorted,” he said. The circumstances surrounding the missing payments remain under investigation, and it has not been established in court that the examination fees were deliberately misappropriated. Matunga's arrest is also an allegation at this stage, and she has not been convicted of any offence.

The case has nevertheless highlighted the risks faced by learners and parents when examination registration arrangements are not completed before the start of national examinations. For the affected Grade Seven learners, the immediate priority was securing access to the examinations, with ZIMSEC officials reportedly making alternative arrangements after the parents raised the alarm.

Grade Seven exam fees Zimbabwe