Fulfilling the UPND campaign promise of free education , President Hakainde Hichilema has announced that from January 2022 school fees will be abolished for Public schools.
“Did you ever imagine that you will be entering January without worrying about school fees? Yes. January 2022, if you have a child in a public school, you won’t pay anything.
This is what we promised and we have delivered. When we removed fuel subsidies, this is what we intended for our people,” President Hichilema said in a facebook post.
President Hichilema said education is the best equaliser and the UPND government stands by this.In the 2022 budget the UPND government allocated K18.1 billion to education which is 10.4% of the total budget.This is the largest allocation in the last 5 years.
The previous budget allocations to Education are as follows:
2021 -K13.8 billion
2020 -K13.1 billion
2019 – K13.2 billion
2018 -K11.6 billion
Education Minister Douglas Siakalima said that the removal of subsidies is meant to enhance service delivery in sectors such as education that have been receiving inadequate funding in the past.Mr. Siakalima said that it is the intention of the government to increase funding to the social sector but this can only be done when the country has marshaled enough domestic resources.
Lusaka Times
