A DEPUTY headmaster has been arrested over claims he stole US$3,000 in exam fees for the November Ordinary Level tests, Matabeleland North police said on Monday.
Maxwell Ndlovu, 51, is due before Lupane magistrates this week to face fraud charges.
Education officials, meanwhile, have assured the 66 pupils affected by the alleged theft that they will be allowed to sit their exams.
CID detectives were sent in to Sibambene Secondary School in the Gomoza area of Lupane after the school failed to remit exam fees to the Zimbabwe Schools Examination Council (ZIMSEC).
Assistant Inspector Siphiwe Makonese, the spokeswoman for Matabeleland North police said: “Ndllovu is being held on allegations of fraud.”
Ndlovu, police say, was the designated school official who registered pupils for November’s exams and was in charge of collecting candidate fees.
He collected US$3,060 from 66 pupils in March, but he did not deposit the money into ZIMSEC’S Standard Bank account.
Makonese said: “The allegations are that after receiving the money, Ndlovu converted it to his personal use. The matter only came to light on July 4 when the Lupane district education officer discovered that some pupils at the school were not registered to sit for the November examination yet they had paid.”
Matabeleland North acting provincial education director Jabulani Mpofu said: “We have since made arrangements to have the money paid and none of the registered pupils will miss the examinations.”
Meanwhile, Matabeleland North police say the headmistress of Nyamandlovu Primary School has gone on the run after allegedly embezzling nearly US$10,000 of school funds.
Ndagana Ngwazare’s last known address is Number 3 Mimosa Drive, Sauerstown, Bulawayo.