By Sikhosana Bambazonke
The Zimbabwe Schools Examination Council (ZIMSEC) has announced an academic ambush of 100 percent hike in examination fees.
Education, it seems, has officially entered luxury pricing.
Ordinary Level fees have leapt from US$11 to US$24 per subject.
With the average learner taking eight subjects, parents are now staring at a cool US$192—per child.
Advanced Level students were not spared either, with fees doubling from US$24 to US$48 per subject.
Inflation couldn’t have done a better job.
Overnight, education has been reclassified as a private club for the elite one percent.
The rest are advised to admire learning from a distance.
ZIMSEC, an institution with a proud tradition of exam leakages, chaotic administration, and chronically underpaid markers, has once again proved it can fail students even before they sit the exam. Consistency is key.
On the streets of Harare and the permanently paused growth points of rural Zimbabwe, citizens reacted with disbelief.
One resident described the move as a “Third Chimurenga against the poor.”
Others simply stared into the distance, doing mental maths they could no longer afford.
True Patriots, in the rural areas, hope quietly packed its bags.
Some parents concluded it may be cheaper—and more realistic—for children to learn survival skills instead.
Such as farming, welding and endurance.
The decision sharply contradicts the Second Republic’s empowerment gospel.
Under Ruka Chivende’s watch, empowerment now apparently means making life so unbearable that citizens are expected to perform economic miracles.
In this advanced logic, poverty is cured not by opportunity, but by pressure.
ZIMSEC has spoken.
The classroom door remains open, if you can pay to enter.
