Archbishop Focusing on Vision of Economic System In Education

If we have a very good vision of the economic system then education will fall into place, says the Head of the Catholic Church in Fiji and Rotuma, Archbishop Peter Loy Chong.

Archbishop Loy Chong made this comment in an interview after being among more than 30 participants at the high-level roundtable conference at the University of Fiji Saweni Campus in Lautoka yesterday. The conference went with the theme ‘Higher Education for the Future’. Fiji Sun’s Managing Editor Digital, Rosi Doviverata was one of the participants.

Archbishop Loy Chong said his intervention during discussions was situated around the area of having a clear vision of the economy and the values the economy would be based on.

“This discussion based on this roundtable is on the future of education, but we have taken the economy as the focal point because COVID-19 has impacted health and the economy, for us in Fiji it is the economy trying to look for the plan to education for the future,” he said.

“The current global economic system is based on profit, how it serves the profit and market, but who owns the market is the rich multinational corporations so that has to change.

“My intervention here is that we have to clarify our vision for the future economic system and the values that guide it and once that is very clear then the skills, character and education necessary for that, that will come into place will come together.”

He said the Catholic Church had a vision for the economy and the principles that guided its vision.

“So the first value is that the economy must serve the human person. The economy should serve human beings rather than serve the profit of the market of the big companies,” he added.

Archbishop Loy Chong added that the roundtable conference was a good platform to raise awareness and discuss the future of education in the economy.

Photo: Nicolette Chambers From left: Bau Central College principal Susana Mataitoga, Dean of Umanand Prasad School of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Fiji Professor Fred Merchant and Acting Vice-Chancellor of the University of Fiji and Dean of the Law School Professor Shaista Shameem at the University of Fiji Saweni Campus in Lautoka on January 15, 2021.

From left: Archbishop Peter Loy Chong, Tupeni Baba and Chef Lance Seeto at the high-level roundtable conference at the University of Fiji Saweni Campus in Lautoka on January 15, 2021.