GoZ Feigns Readiness for Children of ZEP Holders
"We would like to assure parents, especially those who could be coming back home following the expiry of ZEP, that their children are most welcome..." - Ministry of Education
The Government says it is ready to absorb children of Zimbabwe Exemption Permit (ZEP) holders into the country’s education system when they eventually return home in the coming months.
More than 170,000 Zimbabweans are holders of ZEP issued by South Africa in 2017 which will expire at the end of June this year.
Primary and Secondary Education ministry spokesperson, Taungana Ndoro, on Monday said they have systems in place to integrate children formerly learning in other countries to fit into the local schooling system. Ndoro said:
“Our sector has always been absorbing learners from different countries who are in various grades. These learners could be coming from African countries or any other country around the world. Remember, one of our mandates is to provide access to all learners — be it formal or non-formal education.
As such, we have systems in place in our sector to assess the level of learners from other countries so that we place them in appropriate levels or grades. That has been going on for a long time. So, the affected children from South Africa are most welcome to our sector.
We would like to assure parents, especially those who could be coming back home following the expiry of ZEP, that their children are most welcome to the sector and the ministry will do everything it can to accommodate all the affected learners.”
In November 2021, the South African Cabinet announced it will not make further concessions for the ZEP holders. It then gave them a grace period of up to 30 June 2023 to migrate to other mainstream permits.
