Acting permanent secretary for Education Ratu Meli Nacuva revealed that his involvement as the chairman of the Fiji Secondary Schools Rugby Union is still a work in progress and consultations are still ongoing.
Following the FSSRU’s annual general meeting last week, it was made known that the acting PS will now take a new position of chairman in the union.
This has since triggered discussions on social media questioning the Ministry of Education’s involvement in school sports.
“This is work in progress and consultations are occurring.
“The intention is to ensure the voice of the ministry especially the teachers and children who participate in the sports is heard and factored into the conducting of all sporting activities in the schools,” he said.
The ministry’s involvement has brought to surface the question of political interference in the FSSRU which is also affiliated to the Fiji Rugby Union.
“This is not the intention. The MOE has a Duty of Care to all its students, teachers, parents, guardians, and stakeholders. Extra-curricular activities like sports, music, arts and crafts as part of a student’s education journey are equally important in a student’s academic performance.
“Our records are seeing the many school dropouts arising out of many students’ absenteeism in Term 3. Every schools’ participation in any event has always been under the written approval of the PSE,” Nacuva said.
Questions were also raised on the fairness of his involvement, whether he is looking to also be in the fold with other school sporting bodies.
“The Ministry is looking at all sporting bodies but will begin with sporting bodies that need high resource commitment from the Ministry through its teachers and students.
“The teachers also are employees of MOE reporting to the PSE.”
He clarified that this is part of the review conducted by the Ministry.
“PEMAC is an important component of development for a child in the Education System, and it needs proper integration. Resourcing in terms of funding, time and personnel is always going to be an issue as we will never have enough of.
“So, it is key that sporting bodies with the ministry can work together to be more effective in ensuring holistic education,” he added.
Nacuva said through their analysis of school performance over the years, they have seen the need to improve students and teacher performances.
