Let’s not blame COVID-19 for education setback

It’s the responsibility of parents and guardians to ensure that their children are back at school – no excuses.

Schools return to normal today and there is no time to waste to get things back on track. During the lockdown, we were constantly advised on how to keep up with our children’s learning. Those who heeded the advice were looking forward to today.

We hear of reports that some parents sent their children to the villages and rural settlements without any real supervision. It was like an extended holiday for the children.

It’s only natural that as children they enjoy the unfettered freedom to do what they normally could not within their home environment. The other concern was that they could slip into this false sense of contentment and lose interest to return to school. We hope this has not happened. If it has then it requires a big motivational effort to get them into the learning mainstream.

We are already seeing some red flags. Some are complaining that they can’t send their children to school because they cannot afford to buy their lunches and are blaming COVID-19.

This kind of negative attitude will not help in advancing their children’s education. Let’s learn to sacrifice for the sake of education. Nothing else matters at this point in time then sacrificing all we have for our children’s education.

Not long ago we carried a much heavier load of education cost like school fees. Now schools are tuition free and students do not have to pay bus fares.

Let’s do something about school lunches. They don’t have to be all bought from the shops. They can be made right there at home with some imagination using local resources, particularly where they are available. Many healthy lunches are made from home.

It’s the responsibility of parents and guardians to ensure that their children are back at school – no excuses.

They should regard their sacrifice as an investment for the future of their children.

The Shree Sanatan Dharam Pratinidhi Sabha must be commended for offering to provide lunches for students who cannot afford them. This organisation has been in the forefront of education in this country. The owner of the University of Fiji is again showing leadership and commitment in our national effort to make sure no one is left behind in education, in a smart modern Fiji.

A certain amount of catch-up is inevitable for the rest of the year. If we all pull together, we can achieve our set targets this year.