SCHOOL heads have been told to “pull up their socks”, stop confining themselves to their offices and venture into classrooms to monitor how children were being taught.
Fijian Teachers Association (FTA) general secretary Paula Manumanunitoga made the call at a consultation in Suva yesterday discussing the repeal of Fiji’s automatic progression in schools.
He said during his days as a teacher, they were supervised by their head teachers and made to ensure that all year one students were able to read by the end of term two.
“Everybody should have been a fluent reader, and we didn’t have any non-readers at that time,” he said.
“Now, what’s happening to us now? Why are there literacy issues up at secondary schools? I can tell you that we were sent to school to be able to read and write.”
He said there were some reports of heads of schools who stayed in their offices and usually told their admin officers that they were doing their work.
“But he’s grog-doped and sleeping it off. I think this is a timely reminder for all heads of schools now, we must all pull up our socks and try to have our teachers work harder.”
Education Minister Aseri Radrodro also said automatic progression had created a culture of complacency among students, among teachers, parents and students.
He said students might not feel the need to put in the required effort to achieve academic excellence as a promotion to the next grade was guaranteed regardless of the academic performance.
“The fluctuating average pass rates over the years may be attributed to automatic progression and teachers face the challenges in addressing significant learning gaps in students who are automatically promoted despite lacking the necessary skills,” he said.
He said an online survey on the consultation process – which closed at 4.30pm yesterday – recorded over 626 responses.
“The Ministry of Education’s objective of repealing automatic progression from the education system is to ensure that students achieve the learning outcomes and competencies of a particular level before the advance to the next academic level.”
