Students shut out of 'racist' schools

[United Press International]

HARARE, Zimbabwe, May 4 (UPI) -- More than 30,000 students
in Zimbabwe got an unexpected spring break Tuesday because
authorities closed their private schools in a dispute over fees.
The BBC reported that 45 schools were closed after hiking
tuition fees by as much as 50 percent to counter the impact of
inflation, currently running at 580 percent.
But Education Minister Aeneas Chigwedere accused schools of
practicing a form of racism.
"They throw out Africans by simply hiking fees," he said on
state television.
Tuition fees are currently running at around $5,635 a year.
Prior to independence in 1980, Zimbabwe's top private
schools were reserved for whites. Now the majority of the student
body is black.
One of President Robert Mugabe's sons is among the children
shut out of the classrooms by the government's decision.
According to media reports from Harare, the schools will be
kept closed until they scale back their fees.