The Ministry of Education has called on all public schools across the country not to force parents to buy uniforms from schools for their children.

Ministry of Education Assistant Director and Head of Communications, Kunda Mando, says the free education policy aims to remove burdens like school fees and other requisites to ensure more access education.

In a statement to ZANIS, Ms Mando stressed that the free education policy ensures that there are no fees, including, examination, feeding or user fees, to be charged to parents or pupils, stating that frustrating the policy is detrimental to the government’s vision.

“Ministry of Education gives grants to schools every term to ensure that schools are running sustainably, and therefore, government does not expect any teacher, Headteacher or school administration to charge for uniforms or any other school requirements,” she emphasised.

She says school authorities should allow parents to buy uniforms for the children from places they can afford, provided they follow the correct color and design of the school uniform for that particular school.

Ms Mando has underscored that government’s vision is to see that every child in Zambia has access to free education without any hindrance from school authorities or anyone in society.