The Fiji Women’s Crisis Centre (FWCC) has called for restrictions on cadet training in schools and reforms to the national curriculum, saying the Education Bill 2025 risks reinforcing militarisation and colonial narratives.
Making its submission to the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Justice, Law, and Human Rights this week, FWCC manager legal services Miliana Tarai described cadet training as the introduction of military values into the education system.
“It is clear that cadet training is the introduction of military values into schools, making schools a crucial social terrain by which societies and citizens adopt militaristic values and views such as a belief in hierarchy, obedience, and the use of force if needed,” Ms Tarai said.
“The classroom should not be a place to reinforce militarisation, especially for a country that has experienced four coups, of which three were carried out by the military.”
Ms Tarai also criticised the continued use of education structures rooted in colonial systems, arguing that students were not being taught Fiji’s full political history.
“Fiji continues to educate our children through structures designed during colonial occupation, structures that were never intended to serve local interests or preserve cultural heritage.”
“The contents of the curriculum need to reflect the true history of Fiji and not one that is distorted by those in power.”
Ms Tarai called on lawmakers to ensure the education system promotes critical thinking, historical accuracy, and democratic values.
