OVERCROWDING is not common in all schools in Fiji but it is a result of the rural to urban migration of families and students, says Education Minister Dr Mahendra Reddy.
Dr Reddy said overcrowding was an issue that was to be expected in the coming years as people moved towards the urban town centres.
“Overcrowding is basically in the Suva-Nausori corridor. You go and see where we have constructed new schools and new classrooms,” he said.
“Next year, from the Suva-Nausori corridor there will probably be a number of places that will have an additional class stream for primary and secondary schools.
“The problem is while we have movement of population from the rural to urban areas, we are not pulling the resources from there.
“The school will still remain, the teachers will still remain, so that’s an issue that we are confronted with.”
Dr Reddy said the choices made by parents and students on which school to attend also contributed to the issue.
“While we are contributing more and more resources to upgrade school facilities in the maritime areas, parents still want to move to the urban areas and take their children to places like QVS, RKS and ACS so that is putting a lot of pressure on us.
“If parents want the child to attend an urban school, at the end of the day we will not stop that.
“While our zoning policy is there, first preference under the zoning policy is given to the students from around the school area, the left over space we allow for other students.”
