FORMER trade unionist and educationist Susana Tuisawau is calling for a thorough review of primary and secondary school teacher training, saying the most qualified and experienced teachers should be assigned to Years 1-3 to strengthen children’s foundational literacy skills.
Ms Tuisawau said the early years of education were critical to a child’s development, particularly in reading, comprehension and the ability to build a strong foundation for future learning.
“Firstly, the foundation years of Year 1, 2 and 3 are critical,” she said.
She said this was a priority in the early teacher-training system, where infant teaching was regarded as particularly important and the best teachers were placed in the lower classes.
“In our early teacher training colleges, infant teaching was extremely important and only the best were placed in the lower classes. I am not sure if these classes are getting these quality teachers today.
“Ms Tuisawau also raised concerns about the impact of technology on children’s learning, particularly their concentration and engagement in the classroom.
“Most importantly, the technical trend today is also impacting the world of children’s thinking and interest.
This has impacted the concentration span of children and hence delivery of learning by teachers and how they deliver.”
She said the challenges were not unique to Fiji, with education systems globally facing changes in how children respond to learning.
“It is not only Fiji, but the entire world is suffering a revolution of some sort in the way children respond to learning. I am noticing this in the Sunday School classes I teach.”
Ms Tuisawau said students needed to develop critical and independent thinking skills, rather than simply memorising information.
She referred to the six levels of thinking — recall, comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis and evaluation — which she said teachers were trained to use to help students apply what they learned.
The ministry had not responded to questions on the issues raised by Ms Tuisawau when this edition went to press.
