By Michael Gwarisa
The Minister of Primary and Secondary Education, Hon. Torerai Moyo, has issued a stern warning to operators of unregistered schools, giving them until December 31, 2025, to regularise their operations or face closure come January 2026.
The Minister’s declaration came in response to a question in Parliament on Wednesday from Hon. Mashavave, who raised concerns over the unchecked “mushrooming” of private schools and colleges across the country and the lack of oversight of their activities.
Minister Moyo acknowledged the serious challenge, stating, “We have a challenge of a proliferation of illegal schools. Illegal schools that are mushrooming almost every day in our neighbourhood, in the rural areas all over. However, that practice is illegal.”
He emphasised that it is mandatory for any school to be registered with the Ministry’s School Planning, Provisioning and Registration Service (SPPRS) department before operating. While circulars have been sent out and a “clarion call” made for directors to comply, the Minister announced a final grace period.
We have given illegal schools a grace period of four months because we did not want to close those schools haphazardly as this disadvantages the learners,” Hon.Moyo explained, highlighting the government’s desire to avoid violating students’ right to education during the ongoing examination period.
The Speaker of Parliament sought clarification, confirming that the grace period would allow learners in these institutions to complete their academic year without immediate disruption.
The debate then turned to the root cause of the problem. Hon. Shiriyedenga intervened, linking the proliferation of illegal schools to the critical national shortage of educational infrastructure, previously identified as a deficit of 3,000 schools. He argued that these illegal institutions often emerge to serve communities where children would otherwise face long and arduous journeys to the nearest legitimate school.
In response, Minister Moyo outlined an extensive nationwide school construction program, revealing that significant progress has already been made. “Since 2022 until now in 2025, we have built more than 600 schools,” he reported.
The Minister broadened the definition of school construction to include efforts beyond the government, detailing a multi-stakeholder approach involving churches, private individuals, and international partners.
“We are going to construct more than 200 schools,” he stated,
Meanwhile, he added that the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter-Day Saints has built seven schools this year, with Chabwino Primary School set for commissioning soon while the apostolic sect of Johane Marange is building more than eight schools. The government, through funding from the National Building Society (NBS), has begun constructing 25 schools whereas the International funding from OPEC and a pledge from the Algerian Government were also cited as key to addressing the infrastructure gap.
“We are seized and busy in constructing schools. It is one of the key indicators of our performance as a Ministry. I am personally evaluated on the basis of how many schools we have built,” Minister Moyo asserted, confidently projecting that over 200 new schools would be completed by December 31, 2025.
The announcement presents a two-pronged strategy: a firm regulatory crackdown on non-compliant institutions to protect education standards, coupled with a accelerated building program designed to ultimately remove the necessity for such illegal operations.
