The Interim Education Ministry does not condone smoking in schools.

The Interim Education Minister Filipe Bole said that they totally support the work of the Health Ministry's Tobacco Control Enforcement Unit's work at attempting to control smoking.

Responding to a newspaper article on Wednesday where students were fined for smoking, Bole said smoking will affect the performance of the students and whilst many young smokers think that they can quit easily, it does not take them long to find out that they can become easily addicted to it.

Bole said the responsibility to assist the young people to choose a NO TOBACCO lifestyle begins from home and is calling on adults to be supportive in helping the young ones know the dangers of smoking.

According to Bole, an estimated 600 million cigarettes are smoked a year in Fiji while an estimated FJD $5M per year is used in Health care, expenditure on tobacco products and loss of productive years of life.