Students Learn History of Girmitiya Era
To recognise and appreciate the tremendous contributions of the Indentured Labourers, the University of the South Pacific (USP) Lautoka Campus had a debate related to the Girmit Era. Assistant Minister for Women, Children and Poverty Alleviation, Sashi Kiran was the chief guest at the event while the USP Deputy Vice Chancellor, Giulio Masasso Tu’ikolongahau Paunga was the special guest.
The event started with a very robust debate session between eight Lautoka based schools who deliberated on different topics.
Team Pundit Vishnu Deo Memorial College with their exceptional presentation and arguments were declared the winner of the debate session.
Natabua High School was the first runner up while Central College Lautoka was the second runner up. Each school was awarded with trophies and certificates.
Ms Kiran commended the students and teachers for their tireless effort in preparing for the debate.
She emphasised that it was crucial to create more awareness on the Girmit era.
She added it was important to create awareness so that the young generation
was well versed with this very important part of history of Fiji.
Mr Paunga echoed similar sentiments emphasising on the importance of students from around the Pacific embracing the history of
their respective countries in a positive manner.
The USP Lautoka Campus Director, Pramila Devi revealed that the feedback which they got from the teachers was that the debate session was very stimulating and beneficial
for their students.
Second half of the official function saw various performances relating to the sufferings of the Girmitiiyas enacted by the students of the USP Lautoka Campus.
A special Girmit exhibition was also organized at the campus which gave opportunity to the students and members of the general public to see various artifacts used by the Girmitiyas.