Education Minister Dora Siliya has directed school management countrywide to allow pupils who fail to pay school fees and for those who buy uniforms from outside schools to attend classes.
At a Press briefing in Lusaka yesterday, Ms Siliya said the ministry had received numerous complaints of pupils being sent away due to non-payment of user fees which in some schools are high.
She urged school managers and parents to use Parent Teachers Association (PTA) meetings as a platform for them to discuss such issues and agree on how much should be paid as user fees.
Ms Siliya said the Government had set guidelines on how schools should be managed and could not allow children to stay away from school for even an hour because it would be retrogressive.
She said confusion in some schools resulted from poor planning between the parents and teachers.
The minister said it was therefore important for teachers and parents to attend PTA meetings to avoid such grievances.
Ms Siliya said the ministry was aware of some schools championing their own agenda and were chasing away pupils who had bought uniforms from outside the learning institutions.
And Ms Siliya took a swipe at some non-governmental oganisations always criticising Government programmes.
At least good move sis
you better be serious about this issue..hope its not just a campaign gimmick..good move indeed for once Dora!
You should be proactive and not wait for complaints! Good move though.
Great move. But we will still vote u out. Enjoy yo last days.
Dora Sylyia talking sense for a change… manje ma wigi ayooo..
Kaya, mama!
Good move Hon Minister, please make sure the district educational offices follow up the issue.
And please at the next convention, contest for the education portfolio,you are doing great in that area.
Leave the MMD spokesperson role to Hon Nakapwashya or Hon Mulongoti.
I like you Ms. Siliya..you are very confident and you seem to me like a person who is serious with her job but in a not so serious party. Anyhow thanks for that move.
Analysing the issue further, the fact is that parents will still need to pay fees. These money is controlled by the boards within the schools and is used for buying teaching aids and other things needed for the day to day running of schools. Dora has no right to say this, the role of the minister is to influence policy and implement and not working like a ‘lobby’ NGOs. imagine if all the pupils turn up without money at their schools coz of this announcements, how are schools going to pay those teachers who are employed directly by school boards, including part-time teachers??? thats how things work though i feel for my young brothers and sisters they have a right to education but our system bwafya
Whilst we appreciate this political gimick is meant to help “poor people”, i”m at pains trying to understand where schools are going to get money for their day to day operations especially that Govt funding is so erratic. Parents are obviously not going to be paying even if they have money. This is still Mwanawasa’s policy, can’t these guys come up with progressive policies of their own.
Cheap mistimed (2011) campaign strategy if you ask me.
this better not be for campaigning,i think its a gud thing,not all parents can manage to pay school fees at once esp if they hav alot of children still in school,they should be allowed to pay in installments,its very embarassing when pupils are chased from school…….
What happened school uniform shops doted around townships? Now you have schoolz in full buziness of selling uniformz and at rather pricez! There iz some school on the Copperbelt where they have to import the uniform material for pupilz.
Ba Dora, this sounds like a good idea, but we all know why it has come at this time. In the first place, why were these so-called user-fees introduced? You and I know that funding to most of these schools is nothing to write home about. You therefore brought in the concept of cost-sharing (whatever that means). You as Government do not keep your end of the bargain and the poor School Managers have to rely on these user-fees. Now you are telling them not to send away children who fail to pay. So how will schools run? Please think through issues before you make some of these decisions; this going back and forth is embarrassing the entire nation. You look sharpt mentally but apa pena cimo na No!! Epo mpelele!!
For the first time Dora has spoken sense,too much exploitation from some for the schools. But pliz ensure this is implemented.
#13, she did not say people should stop paying,NO
Free education for all, 1960’s wigs are back in style!
ITS A GUD MOVE BUT MAYBE IT SENDS A MESSAGE TO MANY THAT U ARE COMPAIGNING SIS.
Teaching in a government institution in Zambia is a nightmare to say the least. If parents read this post, they will surely not pay even a ngwee to the school but will divert the money for something else. The minister should have encouraged parents to pay up fees so that schools become viable. The schools have a heavy load of purchasing paper for mocks and other exams. Where are they going to get cash from???
Alternatively, GRZ should source staionery and other materials for all schools in Zambia. Otherwise this is cheap politics from my point of view!