Dokora grilled in Parliament over From One enrolment

We do not want to go backwards on policy implementation.  In other words, at times we do not use a lot of words to explain what is happening behind the scenes. We are however aware of some of these things, for example when we removed incentives for teachers that should we gather and ask whether we should remove them.  Some will say it is good because they are benefiting but the poor will suffer.  So, on some of the things we look whether the practice is educationally sound.  So, we look at the interest of education so that we come up with good plans.  I have faith that the Hon. Member once got into discussions with us concerning that issue.

*HON. PHIRI:  My question is directed to the Minister of Primary and Secondary Education.  You have spoken on the issue of zoning, I did not get a good response, those involved in zoning – are they boarders or there are boarders and day scholars as well.  If a child has listed the schools that he or she prefers and he or she cannot get a place there, is there any room for that child to go back online to chose another school or she now has to go school by school looking for a place?

*THE MINISTER OF PRIMARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION (HON. DR. DOKORA):  Thank you for the question asked by Hon. Phiri.  He wants to know whether children are eligible for schools in their locality despite those parents wanting the children to be boarders.  He or she can go to a school which is in his or her zone.  The other question is that if I do not get a place from those three choices; if the child cannot get a school from those schools, she also has a choice of looking for places at other schools but those which are now full, they are no longer on the choice list.  You are only left with schools that have places and the number is about 3 000 to 4 000 places.

*HON. NDUNA:  I need help from the Minister because children are failing to get places in their zones even on those places which are not on the list because they have more points.  What plans do you have to ensure that these schools take children who got 36 units but cannot get into those schools?

THE HON. SPEAKER:  Order, order, I think the Chair is going to send out one or two Hon. Members now.  Reduce your whispers please.

*HON. DR. DOKORA:  On the issue of children who got 24 or 36 points and parents want these children to get boarding places.  Let me explain it this way so that we can be on the same level.  We did not give an instruction on selection criteria, even the schools that you choose, we did not tell them to scale them in terms of priority.  We said just choose three schools.  All the schools are the same.  We did not rank them orderly because what we thought was that the admissions committee sit down and say that we are a missionary school.  The church has got interests on that school and that should be taken into account.  You can say this is a Government school, if the admissions committee have taken children – some start probably by taking girls, some look at Mathematics and General Paper, once they have done that, if your child has got 36 units and if  she gets a place; it is up to the school that with the performance of those that they have chosen and the one with 36 points, what is the gap, how are they going to fit into that system because probably that one is a slow learner and they take time to adjust?  St. Alberts has taken children with four to five units and some with 12 to 15, they used their own discretion, and we just gave them the liberty to do what they deemed good for them.

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