EDUCATION is the foundation upon which Fiji’s future leaders are built, Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka told students as he urged them to embrace strong values, leadership and service to the nation.
While commissioning the new multipurpose hall at Draiba Primary School on Thursday, Mr Rabuka said infrastructure alone would not determine the country’s future.
“Buildings alone do not transform nations,” he said. “They become transformational when they enable children to acquire knowledge, to develop character, to send them leadership, and to embrace innovation, and also to pursue excellence.”
Mr Rabuka reminded students that Fiji’s greatest asset was its people, not its natural resources.
“Our great national resource is not found beneath our land or within the ocean, it is found in the people.”
Addressing the students directly, he encouraged them to prepare themselves to become the country’s next generation of leaders.
“You are going to be the leaders of our nation, your nation of your time. Sit up, stand up, and be accounted for, and contribute when you become young men and women, when you become older men and women, and when you become very old men like I am to your nation.”
The Prime Minister said education extended beyond academic achievement, stressing the importance of values, guidance and character development during a child’s formative years.
“But all these pages talk about the importance of education, the importance of cooperation, the importance of guidance, the importance of teaching, the importance of spiritual leadership — all these are values that you must embrace as you form your characters in primary schools.
“These are still the formative years of your lives, and we can only contribute to those formative years so that you form, you establish the character you’re going to be as you carry this nation on your shoulders.”
