The Great Council of Chief’s (GCC) proposal to make iTaukei a mandatory language for students in year one to three has received backing from Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka.
Mr Rabuka said the teaching of language should not be limited to vernacular only as the education system should start introducing land laws and the Native Land Trust Act.
“I think it’s a very good idea and they should not limit it to the vernacular,” Mr Rabuka said.
“In the upper classes, they should start introducing the land laws, Native Land Trust Act and those things, so that when disputes come up later, people understand who is arguing with whom on what.”
Mr Rabuka’s comments come in response to GCC chairman Ratu Viliame Seruvakula’s statement that it was regrettable children in villages were unable to read the Bible in the iTaukei language.
Ratu Viliame said they had established a Native Language Commission that would look into what goes into the iTaukei dictionary.
