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Message: [QUOTE="Nehanda, post: 28656, member: 2262"] Families face tough money problems when their kids need to take final tests. They must pay for both the tests and extra teaching sessions. Parents who send kids to private schools suffer the most because they pay full test fees. The government helps public school families by covering half the cost for seven subjects. Public high schools across Manicaland Province teach 49,240 teenagers, and private schools serve another 16,195 students. About 2,955 tenth graders and 734 twelfth graders attend these private schools. Many families chose these schools because they seemed cheaper at first, but test season brings hidden costs. March 20 marks the last day to pay test fees at most schools. This deadline hits hard when families already spend money on extra teaching after regular school hours. Teachers charge $10 for each subject in high school classes, and elementary students' parents hand over $1 every day for similar help. Education Minister Torerai Moyo stated the government can't help private school families. "We focus our money on public schools," he explained. "Parents choose private schools freely since we have plenty of public spaces." He claimed some families select private schools to escape debts from public schools or because their children need to repeat grades. The minister emphasized that extra teaching sessions break the rules. "We ban these classes according to official policy," Moyo said. "We punish anyone caught teaching them when we find proof." Yet parents feel forced to pay for these forbidden classes. They worry their kids will fall behind classmates who attend. Teachers might hold back during normal school hours, pushing more students toward paid extra sessions. Children whose families can't afford these classes receive less attention during regular hours. Teachers call this putting students "in a refrigerator"—they simply ignore kids whose parents didn't pay extra. [/QUOTE]

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