PM Stresses: Why Education A Priority
Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama yesterday stressed the importance of education while at Vutia District School, in the Rewa delta.
Mr Bainimarama said Government has worked steadily and methodically to build a better Fiji and they did that with both big and small projects.
“We have relieved parents of the burden of paying school fees and books. We have improved teachers’ pay and raised teaching standards, which we think go hand in hand. We have improved the curriculum. And we also look for ways to improve each school to create a better learning environment - the big schools and small ones,” Mr Bainimarama said.
The Prime Minister said they were not just teaching children what was in the text books. “We’re teaching them to be responsible adults, productive and engaged children, and morally upright people. The socialising they do in school with other children is a part of growing up and learning to live in society. Some of that is done in the classroom, some on the playground and some in the dining hall and group activities.” Government he said would continue to devote themselves to improving education in Fiji.
The Prime Minister was at Vutia to open the school’s new dining hall and ablution block. He urged parents to stay engaged with their child’s school, to work with their child’s teacher and make their homes an extension of the classroom.
“Parents, you can help in encouraging your child’s curiosity and helping your child develop interests in the world around him or her and in activities that stimulate their mind,” he said.
“I learned a lot when I was helping my children with their school work, and from time to time I learned my school lessons all over again.
“We did it together. We figured it out. I was never ashamed to admit that I didn’t know something.”
However, he said it was never his intention to give his children the answers; it was more valuable for parents to teach them how to get answers – by perseverance and effort. “When my children learn the value of work of perseverance, they acquire a valuable skill for adulthood.”
He told the students that they were the future of the society and one day they would become politicians, scientists, teachers and business leaders.
“You can prepare yourselves for that enormous responsibility here at Vutia District School.”
He said if they worked hard and never gave up, listened to their teachers and believed in themselves, they could do anything.