Government has revealed that the Basic Education Assistance Module (Beam) programme is experiencing delays due to a shortfall in allocated funds being released by the Finance, Economic Development and Investment Promotion ministry.
Public Service deputy minister Mercy Dinha revealed this in Parliament, while responding to written questions from legislators on the Beam arrears and payment plan.
The programme has over the years been experiencing challenges as several children under its sponsorship failed to access basic education due to unpaid fees.
“The ministry [Public Service] has engaged the Finance, Economic Development and Investment Promotion ministry to clear the arrears and ZWL$50 billion was allocated for the first quarter of 2024. The actual release is ZWL$30 billion which is being processed,” Dinha said.
“For the Beam programme to be a success, I think we must work hand in glove with the Ministry of Finance, Economic Development and Investment Promotion.
“We are being given money for Beam, but the money is not being released as cash and that is the problem. For the ZWL$50 billion that we were promised, only ZWL$30 billion was availed as cash and that is the amount that we are processing right now.”
She said an amount totalling ZWL$19 233 085,29 has been paid to settle 2023 arrears for primary schools across the country. The total arrears for primary schools are ZWL$425 215 440 000.
The total arrears are ZWL$142 496 265 000 for secondary schools.
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