SHABBIR Ali, a parent who attended the Nadi consultation on the review of the Education Act, said the ministry’s school visits were tick-box activities with no tangible results.
“I don’t think the visits by ministers are giving any value to us, our money, our kids, our schools,” he said.
“It’s just to show that we are ticking off another box for school visits.”
Mr Ali said parents needed to be updated on the outcome of these visits made by ministry staff to determine if these schools were providing a conducive learning environment for students. “If I ask the ministry what the rating is, I don’t want to know how many kids there are, or how many classrooms there are.
“I want to know how good the school is in terms of the savings provided to us and our kids.”
Mr Ali said schools needed to direct funds towards improving their facilities.
“Just walk into any of the schools, before you visit the office, go and visit the toilets that our kids use.
“Would any of the ministers or the PS be able to use the washrooms?”
Mr Ali also asked what the ministry was doing to address this.
“These are very basic things but if you start looking at all these details, other things will fall into place very quickly.”
