Davison Marenga
ZVISHAVANE – The severe cash crisis and long bank queues being experienced in the country call for all schools to see to it that they put in place alternative fees payment methods in order to spare people unnecessary hassles, parents in Zvishavane have said.
Those who spoke to TellZim News urged responsible authorities to begin providing swipe machines especially in rural schools where the service is lagging behind.
The country is facing cash shortages and most banks have imposed a daily cash withdrawal cap of as little as US$25. This has been more painful especially for rural people who have to travel to town to find banks but only to get back with something that little or nothing at all.
“Because we are facing cash problems in the country, it would be a good move if swipe machines are introduced in rural schools. Having point of sales will make things easy for us as we will be able to pay fees using plastic money into school accounts. Schools must also embrace plastic money as a new method of payment,” said Francis Makore.
Another parent said the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education could make it compulsory for all urban and other better resourced schools to have point of sales while poor rural schools could be subsidised.
“It is time for those schools that can afford it to be made to purchase swipe machines. Parents are busy and they don’t want to spend time in bank queues trying to get cash or making RTGS. We understand that there are poorer schools in rural areas which would need government or local councils to subsidise them so that they too can have swipe machines,” said another parent.
Recently, the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) and the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education announced that 3 500 swipe machines for distribution in schools throughout the country.local
