The Education Ministry announced today that all national school students must ditch the traditional white school shoes for the black version from 2021. — Picture by Miera Zulyana

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 13 ― All national school students must ditch the traditional white school shoes for the black version from 2021 following a gradual implementation starting next year, the Education Ministry announced today.

The ministry said the policy will be implemented in government schools and government-aided schools and clarified that it will remain optional before 2021.

“For the purpose of implementation, the ministry also agreed that the use of black shoes be implemented gradually starting from the 2019 school year and expanded in 2020.

“During this transition period, students are still allowed to wear white shoes,” it said in a statement posted on its official Facebook account today.

It also cautioned school administrators against forcing students to use the new colour before then.

The ministry told parents and guardians that they need not rush to buy new footwear for the students as they may still use the white variants until the end of 2020.

The ministry said its decision to fully enforce the policy in 2021 was taken after consultation with stakeholders, including parent-teacher associations, parents, teachers, students, school administrators and school shoe suppliers.