IN a groundbreaking ruling, Zimbabwean High Court judge Fatima Maxwell has declared unlawful the refusal by a high school in Harare to enroll students for Form 1 on the basis that they “failed” their Grade 7 examinations.
Justice Fatima Maxwell handed down a provisional order directing the government-run Harare High School in Mbare to enroll the four children who had been denied places.
The school had refused to enrol the four, telling their father, Chishamiso Muganhiri, that they had not attained the requisite 12 units and below in their Grade 7 final exams.
Aggrieved by the local school’s refusal to grant them Form 1 places, Muganhiri, a resident of Mbare suburb, filed an urgent court application, asserting his children’s right to education.
The three respondents were the Harare High School headmistress, Mbare-Hatfield district schools inspector, and the minister of Primary and Secondary Education.
Muganhiri was represented in case number 5641/24 by lawyer Desire Chiromo from Harare lawfirm Mapaya and Partners.
He filed the urgent court application on 17 December 2024 and his children had been finally enrolled by 10 January 2025 in line with Justice Maxwell’s landmark ruling.
Muganhiri will soon file a court application to have the method used by schools to select Form 1 students declared unconstitutional.
He argues that it violates the rights of children as stipulated in section 10 of the Education Act [Chapter 25: 04] and section 75 of the constitution of Zimbabwe.
