VZCZCXRO4366
OO RUEHBZ RUEHDU RUEHJO RUEHMR RUEHRN
DE RUEHSB #0767/01 2471444
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 031444Z SEP 08
FM AMEMBASSY HARARE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 3370
INFO RUCNSAD/SOUTHERN AF DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY COLLECTIVE
RUEHAR/AMEMBASSY ACCRA 2253
RUEHDS/AMEMBASSY ADDIS ABABA 2373
RUEHRL/AMEMBASSY BERLIN 0902
RUEHBY/AMEMBASSY CANBERRA 1650
RUEHDK/AMEMBASSY DAKAR 2006
RUEHKM/AMEMBASSY KAMPALA 2427
RUEHNR/AMEMBASSY NAIROBI 4859
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RUZEJAA/JAC MOLESWORTH RAF MOLESWORTH UK
RHMFISS/EUCOM POLAD VAIHINGEN GE
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHDC
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA 1522
RHEHAAA/NSC WASHDC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 HARARE 000767 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
AF/S FOR G. GARLAND 
DRL FOR N. WILETT 
ADDIS ABABA FOR USAU 
ADDIS ABABA FOR ACSS 
STATE PASS TO USAID FOR E. LOKEN AND L. DOBBINS 
STATE PASS TO NSC FOR SENIOR AFRICA DIRECTOR B. PITTMAN 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL ASEC PHUM ZI
SUBJECT: PRIVATE SCHOOLS ATTEMPT TO DOLLARIZE TUITION 
 
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SUMMARY 
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¶1. (SBU) Private schools in Zimbabwe began requesting payment 
last week in US dollars or British pounds in an attempt to 
retain teachers and meet rising educational costs. 
Zimbabwean government officials quickly declared the practice 
illegal and deployed inspectors t investigate schools and 
threaten headmasters wit arrest.  The ban is likely to 
result in request for discreet donations and alternative 
paymentsin fuel or commodities, or possibly the closure of 
some schools.  More likely, the policy will be canged or 
exceptions will be made to the ban. 
 
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Privat Schools Attempting to Bill in Forex 
------------------------------------------ 
 
¶2. (U) Nearly al private primary and secondary schools 
throughot Zimbabwe have begun billing tuition in US dollars 
and British pounds in an attempt to retain teachers and meet 
rapidly rising school expenses.  The practice quickly gained 
national attention, as last week, several hundred trust 
schools*the equivalent of independent schools in the US*and 
religiously-affiliated schools mailed out letters to parents 
explaining the change in billing policy.  Local independent 
press cited tuition ranging between US$300 and US$800 per 
term, depending on the school. 
 
¶3. (U) Previously, tuition had always been billed according 
to a fixed schedule, which at current bank transfer rates, 
ranges between about US$8 to US$28 per term.  Schools found 
these fees to be insufficient to retain staff, provide 
student meals, and meet utility payments. 
 
--------------------------------------------- - 
&Illegal8 Declares ZANU-PF; Deploys Inspectors 
--------------------------------------------- - 
 
¶4. (SBU) The immediate government reaction*voiced by Esau 
Ndlovu, the chief of the National Incomes and Pricing 
Commission (NIPC)*was to declare the practice illegal and 
deploy inspectors to investigate the identified schools.  At 
the Bishopslea primary school near Harare for example, four 
intelligence officers from the Zimbabwe,s Central 
Intelligence Office arrived on August 28, ostensibly to 
determine if the school was billing in forex, according to a 
Zimbabwean parent of an enrolled child.  The school, which 
was in danger of losing 6 teachers, quickly froze all tuition 
collections and is now determining how best to proceed. 
Additionally, Raymond Majongwe, director of the Progressive 
Teachers Union in Zimbabwe, told poloff that Mugabe,s office 
had sent out security details charged with visiting 
Harare-area schools and investigating tuition billing 
practices. 
 
¶5. (SBU) During a local news broadcast on August 2, the 
Zimbabwean Deputy Minister of Education threatened 
headmasters with arrest if their schools were billing in 
foreign currency.  An American parent of a child enrolled at 
the Bishopslea school told us she had spoken with the school 
headmaster, who confirmed that heads of school were 
exceedingly nervous about the threats and were convening 
emergency board meetings. 
 
¶6. (SBU) The currency restriction may not be universally 
applied across private education in Zimbabwe.  Majongwe told 
us that the police academy in Hatfield (a Harare suburb) was 
in fact charging tuition in US dollars. 
 
HARARE 00000767  002 OF 002 
 
 
 
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Schools Likely to Resort Back to &Donations8 
-------------------------------------------- 
 
¶7. (SBU) Should the NIPC remain adamant that billing tuition 
in dollars or pounds is in violation of Zimbabwe,s foreign 
currency controls, Majongwe believed schools were likely to 
resort to discreetly asking parents for &donations8 in hard 
currency, or alternatively, requesting payment in fuel 
coupons or even food commodities.  This has already been a 
fairly commonplace occurrence within the private school 
community, according to Majongwe.  Majongwe cited cases where 
children were asked to bring liters of cooking oil or pounds 
of sugar and salt, to cover the rising educational costs due 
to Zimbabwe,s runaway hyperinflation. 
 
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COMMENT 
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¶8. (SBU) Strict enforcement of the forex tuition ban could 
result in the closure of some schools.  More likely, since 
many of these schools serve the children of Zimbabwe,s 
ruling elites, there will be a change in policy or convenient 
exceptions to the ban.  The resort to forex tuition by 
schools is symptomatic of the increasing dollarization of the 
economy as businesses and traders find it more and more 
difficult to operate in Zimbabwe,s hyper-inflationary 
economy.  END COMMENT 
MCGEE