Bula
Three stories make the front page of The Fiji Times for Monday, January 20.
ARE we training our children to be criminals?
This was the pertinent question asked by newly appointed Police Commissioner Rusiate Tudravu to participants of the Fiji National University’s TVET conference in Nadi last week. Mr Tudravu asked whether youths were being educated to enter the job market and face challenges or “are we training them to be criminals?”.
LANDOWNING units (LOU) of Vatulele Island Resort are calling on Government to return their land so they can sublease to potential investors who are interested in redeveloping the site. The land has remained idle for almost seven years.
GOVERNMENT is steering clear of the latest complaints against Director of Public Prosecutions Christopher Pryde by letting the process play out as per the law. Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka says the new complaint must follow its own processes.
Synopsis
NEWLY appointed Police Commissioner Rusiate Tudravu makes a point about education that is worth noting.
He questioned whether Fiji’s youth were being raised right.
Mr Tudravu warned participants of the Fiji National University’s conference on resetting TVET and higher education of the dangers of not addressing the matter in a realistic fashion.
“I want to raise a warning here, if we cannot act now, there’s a danger ahead of us,” he said.
He questioned the system, and whether it was working.
“Are we really educating our youths to take up the market and challenges out there?
“Or are we training them to be criminals, sorry to say?”
A major challenge for him as incoming commissioner, he said, was trying to look at ways with which the police force could assist.
“And I see FNU as an institution that can come up with the research in order for us to counter the way we are heading now in terms of our youths.
“We would like to equip youths, for them to go out into the job market and be equipped with the things that they need to have.”
“Are we training the youths enough, because when they go to university we see there is another gap.
“And when they go out into the work environment as already stated by one of the panelists, how can they survive in the field?”
He emphasized the need to change the mindset of students, urging them to consider vocational training as a viable career option.
“TVET is the way forward,” he said, stressing that students should be encouraged not just to aim for white-collar jobs but also to explore the opportunities in technical and vocational fields.
Mr Tudravu’s remarks call for an immediate and collective effort to reshape the educational landscape to better equip the next generation for success and to address the potential risks facing our youth.
Again, we look to the powers that be to consider how best our education system can be shaped.
There are far too many challenges raised about how it is impacting the growth of our young population right now.
We look up to those in authority to consider the many suggestions that are now out in the public domain about improvement of our education system.
Surely there is an urgent need for a collective effort to reshape our educational landscape, ensuring that the next generation is better equipped for success and that the risks facing young people today are addressed.
