About 125,000 students from disadvantaged backgrounds could be facing huge challenges due to the ongoing COVID-19 crisis and the impact it has had on their education.
This was the view expressed by Opposition parliamentarian Ro Teimumu Kepa during the debate on the 2021-2022 Appropriation Bill in Parliament on Monday.
She said the Education Ministry’s $60million allocation in the 2021-2022 budget, free bus fare at $17m, operational grant for higher education at $71.4m, and TELS and Toppers at $159.6m were well and good, but what was needed was student data.
“It could be wiser and more far-reaching for Government to be gathering data on how exactly COVID-19 issues are affecting students and how this can be coped,” Ro Teimumu said.
“Besides that, the Ministry of Education has to gather data on how many students have access to the internet – smart phones, tablets, laptops or desktop computers and other technologies absolutely necessary for online classes.
“Global studies indicating that students from disadvantage backgrounds during COVID-19 would be the worst affected and with poverty levels in Fiji, you are looking at 50 per cent of the school roll which is approximately 125,000 students – that is a big number.
“Therefore, I would urge the Ministry of Education to get data on all students as studies are showing that the ones most affected by COVID-19 are the disadvantaged students and they are affected by truancy, absenteeism, basic needs not met and other abuses that may happen around them.”
