Bula
Three stories make the front page of The Fiji Times for Thursday, May 29.
Check out these sections inside: News/ Letters to the editor/ People/ Business/ International News/ Comics/ Crossword/ Horoscopes/ Classifieds/ Sports
FACTfile: Be sure to follow us for the latest as we count down to the Fiji FACT soccer event this long weekend. It’s exciting, informative, loaded with history and passion. Only in The Fiji Times!
Synopsis
Questions on our education system
THE Education Act 1966 appears to mandate compulsory education for children aged 6 to 15, however, it lacks any enforcement mechanism to ensure compliance. That’s the crux of the matter in as a far as David Solvalu, the legal drafter consultant for the Ministry of Education is concerned.
He highlighted that while the law is pretty fixed on education being compulsory, there are no penalties or follow-up systems if parents fail to send their children to school.
He emphasised that without consequences, the law is ineffective.
The committee, he noted, has considered international models from countries like Australia and Singapore which have structured enforcement systems that include meetings with parents, support for financial or transport issues and potential fines or court actions.
The laws here, he said, “does not follow up with a system to make sure that it is (compulsory)”.
Mr Solvalu said there could be measures put in place to enforce the mandatory policy.
Consultations on the 1966 Act are being conducted in the Central Division this week.
Given the emphasis now being placed on education, there will be interest on how well we can factor in suggestions that address compulsory education.
On this date last year, we wrote about how the provincial education forum brought an important issue to light, highlighting the lack of basic skills among primary and secondary school students.
Lau Provincial Council chairperson Ratu Meli Saubulinayau raised a point about students being promoted to higher classes despite not having a strong foundation in important areas like maths, reading, and writing.
It raised questions about our education system.
Ratu Meli suggested basic skills and knowledge were missing because primary and secondary school students were allowed to advance to the next level of education with low marks.
The system, he said, needed to be evaluated.
His proposed solution for engagement made sense.
It extended beyond addressing immediate academic deficiencies.
There was a reference to nurturing the spiritual wellbeing of students as well as integrating cultural and traditional values and encouraging more engagement of parents and guardians.
In 2020, we learnt that some students entering high school were either non-readers or slow readers which was a concern at the time.
The claim was made by a high school principal during a heads of schools meeting at the Vunimono Hall in Nausori. He said the problem was not unique to his school and suggested there could be a link to the kind of students present in schools or could be attributed to the kind of textbooks they were learning from or the curriculum that was being used.
In the same year, the Ministry of Education’s Central Division education officer Pravin Nath said it had data on the issue and was working on how best it could rectify it.
Many questions were raised in the wake of that revelation.
We asked the question at the time:
When and how did we get to the sad state of affairs?
Were there other factors that needed to be addressed?
Emphasis was placed on education over the years. Money was pumped into this important sector.
If this hasn’t been fixed, then what were we doing wrong?
It is in our best interest and that of our young charges that we place education on a very high plane.
That means empowering our children and setting the base for them to go to school.
Education is important for a nation. It is critical for development.
So we reflect on the consequences of weak foundational skills, evaluate the need for automatic promotion, embrace community engagement, the importance of spiritual wellbeing and encourage discussions at every level of society about the importance of education. The challenge before us is not just about making education compulsory, but also making it meaningful and accessible for all. In the end, it is about education, our children, our future, and our nation!
