Story by Aifheli Mudau
GOVERNMENT has begun a nationwide mapping exercise to identify and eliminate unregistered schools, with Beitbridge District becoming the first area to roll out the initiative as the 2026 school calendar gets underway.
As schools reopened this Tuesday, Beitbridge Municipality warned that enforcement action would be taken against learning institutions operating outside the regulatory framework. Authorities, however, assured parents that all affected learners would be accommodated within the public education system.
The exercise is aimed at safeguarding education standards, learner welfare and curriculum compliance, amid growing concern over the proliferation of unregistered schools, particularly in urban and peri-urban communities.
Some parents expressed anxiety over the potential disruption, calling for authorities to prioritise the regularisation of such schools to avoid disadvantaging learners.
“It is hard, especially if you find out you have taken your child to an unregistered school because you would have bought uniforms and a lot of other requirements needed. What is only fair to us parents is for the owners of the schools to register their schools so that we do not get affected as parents.
“These unregistered schools are a danger to a community because just imagine the clamp down starts when children are at school, it is not right at all to both parents and learners,” parents said.
Local authorities maintain that the exercise is necessary to protect learners.
“We have since warned residents because most of these schools are not known to the authority and the issue of hygiene is not followed. So, we are here to protect both parents and learners so that they can learn in a very safe environment,” Beitbridge Municipality Town Clerk, Mr Loud Ramakgapola noted.
“These schools should be closed because they are causing a lot of problems in the community. In Beitbridge Town, there is a particular school that was teaching a totally different syllabus as compared to that of the Ministry,” Chairperson of Beitbridge Residents Association, Mr Lawrence Tshili added.
The Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education confirmed that the mapping exercise will establish the full extent of unregistered institutions in the district, after which enforcement measures will follow.
“What we are doing now is a mapping exercise so that we can establish what is really happening on the ground and from there, we will share our findings with the local authority and possibly engage the police to make sure we close down. As the Ministry, we are ready to absorb all learners who might be affected to our public schools,” Beitbridge District Schools Inspector, Mr Mbofhololo Muleya said.
The initiative forms part of Government’s broader commitment to strengthening education delivery and infrastructure under the inclusive development agenda of the Second Republic.
—
