Most island school students will not be affected by zoning as this exercise is more inclined to target urban schools.

With the Education Ministry set to begin the zoning exercise with Class 1 and Form 3 next year, Minister Filipe Bole said island school students should they wish to enroll at a school in Suva or other urban locations, can do so provided they enquire about the school's enrolment scheme.

Bole said government boarding schools are also an option for them and this could be arranged through the Divisional Education Officer - Eastern.

Under this zoning exercise, schools will have defined home zone boundaries called school home zones.

That will be determined by a student's residence.

For schools in the urban areas, such zones would cover an area of 2 kilometers away from the school.

Other issues such as overlapping of school home zones will be clarified by the legislation for school zoning.

Schools in villages, communities or districts within the urban setting will define their zones in terms of villages or communities whose children are to be enrolled.

Every school is required to submit their enrolment scheme to the Ministry of Education, through their respective District Education Offices which will be approved first by the Permanent Secretary for Education.


Story by: Ana Naisoro