The Ministry of Education has been challenged to be carrying out regular checks on pre-schools in Eastern Province.
Some community members have observed that some pre-schools are set up in places that are not conducive for children.
Speaking during the Voice Program on Breeze FM, Onolia Zulu, noted that some of the pre-schools do not have proper sanitary facilities.
During the same program, it was also observed that some schools are not following the policy of using local languages in lower grades.
It was observed that most private schools have continued using English even in lower grades, a situation which left some people wondering why the policy only applies to public schools.
And another parent, Benson Phiri, emphasized the need for senior education officers to be monitoring operations of schools.
He said some of the policies fail to due to lack of monitoring of implementation.
Ms. Zulu and Mr. Phiri also encouraged the Ministry of Education to work with local authorities, so that more public pre-schools can be opened in districts.
They noted that the council has a lot of buildings, which are now being used by people to set up private pre-schools, a situation they said is only benefiting a few people with money.
But Provincial Senior Education Officer, in charge of open and distance learning administration circles, Batra Kasimbo, said private schools are also supposed to follow the policy.
On the setting up of pre-schools, he explained that the Ministry of Education has guidelines on the standards to be followed before such schools are set up.
He noted that communities also need to be fully engaged in ensuring that pre-schools are opened in right places.