The recent decision by the government to extend the Zimbabwe School Examinations Council (ZIMSEC) November 2025 examination fees deadline to May 16 may have been announced with fanfare but for thousands of Zimbabwean learners from vulnerable backgrounds, it is far from a victory. It is merely a pause in an ongoing injustice.
Primary and Secondary Education Minister Torerayi Moyo made the announcement during a Senate question-and-answer session at the New Parliament Building recently, saying the decision followed appeals from parliamentarians seeking reprieve for cash-strapped families. The original March 28 deadline had caused panic among parents and guardians who could not meet the steep costs in time.
While the extension might momentarily ease the financial burden, education rights defenders say it does nothing to address the root problem: the high cost of registration and examination fees in a country where basic education is constitutionally supposed to be state-funded.
In real terms, the cost of writing national examinations in Zimbabwe remains prohibitively high. For many families already struggling to put food on the table, scraping together the required fees often amounting to hundreds of U.S. dollars per student is a near-impossible task.
The result? Thousands of capable, eager learners are systematically excluded from the education system, not because of lack of ability or willingness, but because of poverty.
“Education is a right, not a privilege for the rich,” said Amalgamated Rural Teachers Union of Zimbabwe (ARTUZ) spokesperson Thembakuye Maphepha. “By allowing exam fees to remain this high, the state is effectively shutting out the most vulnerable learners. This is not just an economic issue it’s a moral and constitutional failure.”
ARTUZ has called on the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education to introduce a state-funded registration scheme for students from vulnerable and low-income households. Such a policy, the union argues, would be a significant step towards making education truly universal and inclusive in Zimbabwe.
The country’s Constitution, under Section 75, guarantees the right to a basic State-funded education. Yet, in practice, the path to that education is littered with financial roadblocks, from exam fees to uniforms, learning materials, and levies. The latest extension, while appreciated, does little to confront the deeper structural exclusions baked into the current system.
With the new May 16 deadline looming, it remains unclear how many families will be able to raise the required funds. For students in rural communities, where income is seasonal and largely subsistence-based, time extensions are irrelevant when the money simply isn’t there.
“What Zimbabwe needs is not longer deadlines, but a bold reimagination of how we fund education,” said ARTUZ President Obert Masaraure. “If we can find resources to pay politically connected tenderpreneurs, why can’t we fund a child’s right to sit for exams?”
The current examination system has effectively created a two-tier education structure: one for the wealthy, who can afford to register and advance academically; and another for the poor, who are left behind and stigmatised for circumstances beyond their control.
Until the government adopts serious reforms to subsidise or eliminate examination fees for those who cannot pay, the dream of equal education for all remains hollow.