Private schools and guardians must find “fair” consensus on tuition fees during the State of Emergency in Mozambique

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Private schools and guardians must find “fair” consensus on tuition fees during the State of Emergency in Mozambique

1:19 CAT | 09 Apr 2020

Photo: A Verdade

The Ministry of Education and Human Development (MINED) does not intend to intervene in the decision on whether or not tuition fees at private schools closed for at least the first month of the State of Emergency in Mozambique should be payable.

“We advise private schools to sit down with parents and guardians and have a frank, open and fair dialogue on how they might resolve the situation,” national director of School Nutrition and Health Arlinda Chaquisse explained. @Verdade has meanwhile established that, under the Civil Code, parents are not required to pay tuition fees on breach of contract grounds.

Faced by @Verdade with the drama of parents and guardians of the more than 250,000 students who attend private primary and secondary schools where students are not having classes for the duration of the Covid-19 State of Emergency, the national director of School Nutrition and Health at the Ministry of Education and Human Development (MINED), Arlinda Chaquisse, made it clear that the ministry would not intervene.

“Regarding private schools that are charging tuition fees, we as the Ministry of Education, advise private schools to sit down with parents and guardians and have a frank, open and fair dialogue on how they might resolve the situation. The Ministry of Education is waiting for information from (private) schools about the consensus they have reached,” Arlinda Chaquisse told a press conference last Friday ( April 3).

The Civil Code, in number 1 of its article 428, establishes that: “If in the bilateral contracts there are no different terms for the performance of the services, each of the contracting parties has the power to refuse its contribution while the other does not perform the one that is required or does not offer its simultaneous fulfilment.”

Put simply, if students do not receive face-to-face classes, which is what their parents contracted, it would not be illegal for them not to pay the fee for that month. Lawyers consulted by @Verdade are not unanimous, although they agree that there should be negotiations between private schools and parents and guardians. After all, in most private primary schools, the fee covers not only face-to-face tuition, but also the provision of food.

Regarding public education, Chaquisse revealed that, this week, TC School (Tele Escola) classes would be extended to radio stations, and made it clear that the exercise worksheets that are being prepared by public schools for students occupied in home quarantine must be made available free of charge.

“The guidance given is not to sell worksheets. The worksheets are to be distributed to students [free]. If schools are selling them, parents must tell the Ministry of Education and the other entities mandated to monitor institutional rules. What cannot happen during this emergency period, is that advantage is taken of the situation,” Chaquisse declared.

By Adérito Caldeira

Source: A Verdade