Investing in our future
TODAY thousands of students around the country will pack their bags, don their uniforms and head to school for the beginning of another new year of learning.
As we head to school this morning, Education Ministry permanent secretary Selina Kuruleca has raised an important challenge for us all this year. It touches at the very heart of education.
In fact she insists last year’s Year 8 pass rate should serve as a wake-up call for the ministry, parents, and students across the nation.
While the 67 per cent pass rate is “disheartening”, Ms Kuruleca is urging us to step up and work together to achieve better pass rates in 2024.
She wants to see an increase in percentages.
“We will do whatever needs to be done to lift the standard of our children, of our Fiji, because this is our children who are going to lead us.
“It was disheartening but I’m also just telling everybody in the ministry, people I talk to, this is a lesson for all of us. It’s a wake-up call. If we were slumbering in the past, get out of your slumber. There’s a lot of work to be done.”
They are powerful words.
As Ms Kuruleca pointed out, you would expect such results for more difficult exams.
The challenge is for every class though.
Today, across the nation, classrooms will crackle with the hum of anticipation as our children embark on another academic journey.
We have a call to action, a cry for a concerted effort to elevate our education system as a cornerstone of our collective future.
As we celebrate the new academic year, let us also acknowledge the shortcomings that linger from the past.
Investing in education starts with prioritising our teachers. Equipping them with the tools, training, and ongoing support they deserve is our first step.
We must also nurture within our communities, within our families, an unwavering appreciation for the power of education. Learning must not be seen as a burden, but as a privilege, a pathway to personal fulfillment and a key to unlocking our potential.
Imagine a generation equipped with critical thinking skills, honed to solve complex problems, empowered to become the changemakers of tomorrow. That is the true promise of education, and that is the vision we must strive for.
Achieving this vision requires collaboration though. As parents, teachers, policymakers, and communities, we all must be united by a common goal. Let us celebrate successes, learn from failures, and constantly strive for excellence.
This new year is an opportunity to turn the page. It is an opportunity to write a new chapter in the story of our education system, one where every child can thrive, regardless of their background or circumstance.
Education is an investment in our children, in our nation, and in the very future we are building together. We wish all our students the very best in this new school year.