Zimbabwe: 'Transfer Beam to Ministry of Education'

11 December 2024
The Herald (Harare)
By Farirai Machivenyika

Management of funds for the Basic Education Assistance Module (BEAM) should be transferred from the Ministry of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare to the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education to reduce bureaucracy in fund management, a Parliamentary committee has recommended.

The recommendation was made in the post-Budget report of the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Budget, Finance, Economic Development, and Investment Promotion that was presented in the National Assembly by its chairman, Cde Clemence Chiduwa.

BEAM is a social welfare scheme designed to assist disadvantaged pupils with school fees, and the funds are currently disbursed through the Ministry of Public Service, Labour, and Social Welfare to the schools where the covered pupils learn.

"BEAM funds should be removed from the Ministry of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare and transferred to the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education to ease administration of the funds," said Cde Chiduwa.

Stakeholders in the education sector have advocated the direct release of BEAM funds to the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education to minimise red tape, as this ministry is the primary user of the funds.

Currently, BEAM benefits over 1,5 million pupils by covering school fees, levies, and examination fees. In addition to the BEAM recommendations, the report highlighted the need for the Government to use local authorities' databases to collect presumptive taxes from informal traders.

Cde Chiduwa emphasised the importance of synchronising data between central Government and local authorities to enhance tax collection from the informal sector.

"Presumptive tax payment should be a requirement for those issued with local authority licenses," he said.

Furthermore, the committee called for increased funding for the security sector to combat smuggling, which they identified as a growing threat to local industry viability.

The country reportedly loses an estimated US$1 billion in revenue annually due to smuggling of goods from foreign countries which flood the local market.

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