The zoning of schools will see more racial unity amongst students and will help parent save money.

That is the sentiment of the Attorney General Aiyaz Sayed Khaiyum while addressing the over 120 secondary school principals who were attending the 105th Fiji Principals Association AGM this morning.

Sayed Khaiyum informed the senior educators that in the past it was noted that some schools were virtually empty while other prominent urban schools were overflowing with students.

He said as a result there were either not enough school books for all the students or even not enough teachers as the teacher to student ratio was very low or in some cases there were not enough desks and chairs.

Sayed Khaiyum added that another reason for introducing zoning was the fact that there needs to be a clear distribution of students where enrollment would not be based on ethnicity, preference and gender.

The AG highlighted an issue where parents would like to carry on with tradition and enroll their students in the school where their fathers had gone to but this would now be a thing of the
past.

Sayed Khaiyum said they know this change will not go down well with some people but the fact of the matter was that it would be money saved for parents and would also lessen traffic congestion during peak hours.

He has called on teachers to embrace this change as more responsibility will be placed on them to ensure uniform teaching.

School zoning in urban primary and secondary schools in Fiji will begin next year after Cabinet approval.

Education Minister Filipe Bole said school zoning will begin in Class 1 in all urban primary schools, and Form 3 in urban secondary schools.

It is expected that by the end of Term 2 of the 2010 school year, the capacities of primary and secondary schools in the school home zone will be identified.

Schools will have defined school zone boundaries determined by the residence of a student and such zones will be called the "school home zone".

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