Many students under the programme, funded by the government of Zimbabwe and UNICEF, are orphaned and do not have any other source of paying their fees. The struggling government says its coffers are dry.
UNICEF country representative, Peter Salama, said his organisation Would honour its pledge to pay $10 million next month and said he hoped government would make good on its pledge of $30 million to ensure the children could go back to school.
“BEAM is really an issue. There was a promise of $30 million from government to the Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare and we promised $10 million. There have been delays
in both these programmes but I am pleased to say the UNICEF commitment of $10 million will be fulfilled by next month,” said Salama.
“We are waiting for the promise from treasury to pay $30 million and hope that students who have been patiently waiting will get the money as promised,” he added.
The inability of the government to make payments has affected the some 500 000 children who depend entirely on the facility.
According to UNICEF at least one in every four children in the country has been orphaned by the HIV/AIDS pandemic, while over 1.6 million children do not have the resources to go to school.
Post published in: Zimbabwe News