Opposition Member of Parliament, Premila Kumar, says the recent announcement by the Ministry of Education to reduce the four terms to three is regressive.
In a press conference, Kumar said the Minister for Education, Aseri Radrodro, failed to understand the rationale behind this change and the benefit this brings to education and other relevant stakeholders and sectors.
She said the rationale to introduce the four terms was to bring about overall efficiency in the education system by aligning this with international best practices.
“This proposal was well received by the stakeholders such as the Fiji Head Teachers Association, the Fiji Principals Association, Parents Teachers Association, Fiji Retailers Association, parents, teachers, heads of school, faith-based organisations and Fijian Teachers Association.”
The former Minister for Education claimed that the Fijian Teachers Union did not present their views at that time.
“The consultations were held by the divisional and district education offices around the country and written views were also sought from stakeholders through social media platforms who could not attend in-person consultation.”
She said they also held a teacher’s Talanoa platform on the ministry’s website where people could give their views.
