Education Minister Premila Kumar travelled to the Ratu Kadavulevu School (RKS) to address complaints by nearby villagers of students stealing and damaging their crops.
She said the Government was giving $400,000 annually in education grants, and the students were well fed and cared for.
Mrs Kumar warned that if students were misbehaving and being a nuisance to neighbouring villages, “obviously we need to take some action”.
She also highlighted the need for teachers to work together to address student behaviour.
“The landowners lodged a formal complaint with us with the student’s behaviour as they were stealing and damaging crops of nearby villages,” she said.
“As the minister responsible for education, I need to be here talking to the students and teachers and making them responsible and rather accountable for the investment that the Government is making.”
She said the ministry would take action towards addressing students’ bad behaviour.
“I’ve talked to the principal, and we talked about having one-to-one discussions with the students, counselling and talking to them to address such matters.”
RKS vice-principal Loata Tabuasoro said the school appreciated Mrs Kumar’s visit and her advice.
“She highlighted behavioural issues and, as a mother and a woman coming down to the grassroots level to speak to the students, this speaks volumes of her leadership coming all the way here to talk to them,” she said.
