DESCENDANTS of indentured labourers from India to Fiji need to know about their origins.
Addressing farmers at Muanidevo during the Muanidevo Sanatan School reunion carnival last weekend, Fiji Labour Party leader Mahendra Chaudhry said this history could be preserved if children were taught about their culture, tradition and origins.
Mr Chaudhry said there was a need for Hindi to be taught as a compulsory subject in schools.
He encouraged parents to instill in their children the traditional and cultural knowledge they had.
He told farmers that their history was just as important because it determined their future.
Reflecting on the humble beginnings of the school which started five years ago, Mr Chaudhry described it as a fine example of the struggle of indentured labourers to provide education and most importantly a bright future for their children.
With the existence of the school, Mr Chaudhry said about 1000 students had been educated in the school with many becoming doctors, politicians, and teachers etc.
He told farmers that the toil of their forefathers had not gone to waste, considering that it had paved a better future for their descendants.
He said the preservation of their ethnic identity now rested on them and their children.
Mr Chaudhry encouraged parents to stress the importance of their cultural and traditional knowledge and practices, adding that the home was the best school for these purposes.
