Govt committed to professional development of teachers: A-G
The results of a recent test sat by applicants vying for teaching vacancies will help Government identify areas that need professional development, says Attorney-General and Minister for Education Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum.
The test, in which an English proficiency exam was included, had four more categories covering qualifications, experience, knowledge of contemporary teaching and learning strategies.
There were 3250 applicants, of which 50 per cent failed the English proficiency test.
At a press conference in Suva yesterday the Attorney-General said the results of the test would make it easier for Government to determine areas that required funding for professional development
He said teachers should not to be crucified because of the results. “We want to give full assurance to our teachers that we are committed to your professional development and will invest in programmes that will support you in educating young Fijians,” he said. “The main purpose of the assessment was to provide benchmark data to help measure the effectiveness of professional development programmes that will be carried out throughout the year.”
Applicants who failed to cross the threshold or appear in the first test will get a chance on January 13 to sit for a second exam. Mr Sayed-Khaiyum said applicants, who successfully met the baseline proficiency requirements would get appointed in term one of the school year.
Contracts and offer letters will be sent by January 19 to successful appointees.
Teachers can collect their offer letters from their various divisional offices around the country and no longer have to come to Marela House in Suva. The 2018 school year will open on Monday (Jan 15). Teachers and students can expect disturbances in classes for the first week of the term because the ministry is racing to finalise appointments. The exam results, Mr Sayed-Khaiyum said, would also aid Government in making appointments based on merit, which had been the central theme of the recently initiated controversial Civil Service Reform.
The reforms will also seriously look at the transfer policy for teaching staff, targeting for greater procedural transparency. Mr Sayed-Khaiyum also sought to pacify parents who expressed shock at the result that was revealed on Monday by Ministry of Education Permanent Secretary, Iowane Tiko. “We also want to give every assurance to parents of our students that the ministry is fully committed to appointing qualified and capable teachers,” Mr Sayed-Khaiyum added. “We will also make all appointments, transfers and promotions in a transparent fashion and on the basis of merit and merit alone. The assessments were also carried to ensure that all teaching applicants make baseline proficiency requirements prior to being appointed.” Government, in a move to make teachers more tech savvy, will encourage them on the use of dedicated email and other more modern forms of communications.
About 20,000 student workbooks, along with a further 40,000 replica ballot papers, were handed over to the Ministry of Education for distribution to all Year 10 students in the country.
Minister for Education Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum, while receiving electoral process learning equipment from the Fijian Elections Office yesterday, stressed the importance of empowering young people.
Citing the Census results released on Wednesday that showed 69 per cent of Fiji’s population was under the age of 27, Mr Sayed-Khaiyum said youths were the “ambassadors of the truth”.
“It is critically important, as we’ve been saying as Government, that our young people need to be empowered and they need to be aware of what is happening in the country,” Mr Sayed-Khaiyum said.
“More so than that, they need to be aware of the actual democratic processes (and) the electoral processes that lead towards them being governed by different political parties.”
A teacher’s manual and an elections kit will also be distributed as part of an education ministry’s plan to incorporate electoral processes learning into the school curriculum.
Supervisor of Elections, Mohammed Saneem said they expected to train more than 16,000 students using the equipment.
“As well as educating students, who will become eligible to vote in two years, parents and elders could also benefit from young people being aware of electoral processes,” the A-G said. “When people, in their 30s and 40s, sit around and talk, in particular on social media, they have a tendency of rumour mongering and spreading false information, and these young people are the ones who can correct them.”
He also congratulated the FEO for what he said was an unprecedented level of transparency achieved by the Electoral Commission. Ane Saukawa, 13, of Jai Narayan College and her school mate Gabriella Tulakepa, 15, who were both at the handing over said they felt at an advantage after learning the processes. The two participated in a short video curated by the FEO and presented at the event outlining the voting process.
“It’s very easy and if we can learn it so can the older generation,” Saukawa said. Commission chairman Suresh Chandra said he was impressed by the content present in the curriculum, which also required students to hold mock elections in class.
“One must not simply regard a person who is over the age of 18 as one who should receive election information,” Mr Chandra added.
“We strongly believe that every Fijian has a right to know the electoral process and know that the elections are the means to form Government.”
Last November, Mr Saneem said the 2018 General Election could be as little as six months away. His office has committed $4 million for the recruiting of qualified personnel .