No user fees in Public Primary Schools, Mabumba

By Ruth MwaleThe Ministry of General Education has maintained that primary schools across the country should not charge user fees.The ministry added that pupils should not be asked to buy any requirements from schools.And General Education Minister David Mabumba says the user fees for secondary schools remain at K200 per term, with no additional requirements.Mr. Mabumba further said that fees for colleges of education remain the same.He, however, said if the schools want to get extra monies from pupils, they should first apply to the Ministry to seek guidance.Mr. Mabumba said his ministry has continued to receive complaints on user fees because various schools are requesting pupils to buy various requirements such as paper, tissue and cobra.Speaking during a media briefing, Mr Mabumba also disclosed that Government will this year upgrade 26 primary schools to secondary Schools in Lusaka, to enhance access to education.He said the schools that will be upgraded will also be given additional infrastructure to support the upgrade.And Mr. Mabumba said the country will this year open 15 Science, Technology Engineering and Mathematic Schools.He noted that the PF Government has increased the number of teachers in various schools from about 65, 000 in 2011 to over 115,000 teachers.Mr. Mabumba further noted that Government will restructure the Zambia Education Publication House (ZEPH) to make it efficient and enhance production of learning materials.He added that the Ministry plans to implement the school-based assessment at the primary sub sector in grade 4 to enable performance of pupils at Grade 7.He also stated that the Grade Seven Examinations will be reviewed to determine whether the country should continue with a non-failure examination.Meanwhile, Mr. Mabumba said Grade Nine external Examinations have been abolished.He, however, explained that those who failed in last year’s examination will be accorded an opportunity to repeat in the 2020 Academic year but will be given an external examination number.And Examinations Council of Zambia (ECZ) Executive Director Michael Chilala said Grade 12 results are likely to be released in the first week of February.Dr. Chilala said there has been no disturbance in the current academic year following the late marking of Grade 12 Examinations. Post Views: 4
News Source: ZNBC