THE importance of teaching art and craft in schools will come to the fore if there is ever an audit on human rights in Fiji, says Fiji National University academic Perry Gabriel.
He made the comment during the opening of FNU’s College of Humanities and Education’s Art Exhibition at the Natabua campus on Saturday.
“We all know that the Ministry of Education and schools are compelled to take art and craft but many people don’t know why,” he said.
“It is a document that is signed with the United Nations where Fiji is a signatory, where it talks about the rights of human beings and the rights of a child. “Embedded in these rights is the right to one’s culture.
“If there is ever a day when there is an audit of human rights, it will come down to this.
“This is an approach we are trying to encourage where our students go into schools and have exhibitions. We do our bit here in FNU but unfortunately when they go out into the system, the system is so big and people do not know the value of arts.”
Chief guest at the exhibition, Education Ministry director primary Hem Chand, said teachers who had a keen interest in art and craft had more organised classrooms and were able to prepare creative lesson plans which helped keep children interested.
