EDUCATION PROBLEMS IN FIJI ARE MAJOR

Press, Volume CX, Issue 32422, 8 October 1970, Page 13

EDUCATION PROBLEMS IN FIJI ARE MAJOR

(By

DAVID EXEL, N.Z.P.A.

. staff correspondent)

SUVA. Fiji, which becomes independent on Saturday, has king-size problems in many fields—not the least, in education.

With a shortage of nearly 1000 trained teachers, schools that are largely segregated as between the two main communities —Fijian and Indian—and a complex system of “community,” “Government,” and “independent” schools, the miracle to an outsider is the large degree of success in the education programme rather than its partial failures.

Under a colonial government, education has not been fully utilised as a force for social change. With the coming of indepence, many observers see a period of turbulent social change ahead and Fijian education is likely to be caught up in the vortex of pressing political problems.

In education, as in almost every facet of Fijian life, the conflict between the indigenous Fijians and the descendants of migrant Indians is of major importance. Most schools boast only token integration of the races. The factionalism within the Indian community is represented by demands (not often accepted so far) for teaching in Urdu as well as Hindi. The conservatism of some Fijian elements is represented by reluctance to put Fijian children into direct competition with the often more industrious Indians.

The educational gap between the Indian and Fijian sectors of the population continues to widen. The cost of schooling is still too high for a substantial number of children, and economic prospects are not rosy enough to allow for glib predictions of free compulsory education in the near future. But a recital of the problems in Fiji’s education system needs to be balanced against an appreciation of the achievements. ATTENDANCES Although 43 per cent of Fijians are illiterate in English—the only lingua franca of the 100-odd populated islands 86 per cent of the children in the 6 to 13 age group are now attending school. A substantial proportion of the remainder have had at least some schooling, apd several thousand more will go to school when they ate old enough to travel the distances from their villages.

•Secondary school education still costs an average $6O a year, a small fortune to many Fijian villagers. But the cost is at least considerably less, in relative terms, than it was five years ago; and the cost of primary schooling, often prohibitive a few years ago, has been brought within the reach of all but the least privileged—or the least ambitious. Cost is one of the factors militating against a closing of the educational gap between Fijians and Indians. Last year, more than twice as many Indians were attending secondary school than Fijians. The traditional ambition of Indians is quoted as another major reason for the disparity, and a campaign is planned to persuade Fijians of the need for education. The political situation makes it difficult for any significant advantage to be given to Fijians in terms of greater proportion of scholarships or smaller fees in predominantly Fijian schools. SEGREGATION The de facto segregation of most Fijian schools is defended by Europeans and Fijians as being the “natural choice" of the racial groups, and as protecting the indigenous Fijian culture. It is criticised particularly

I by “ignorant” outsiders as inevitably leading to a continuation of the mutual racial distaste which has brought about recurrent political crises since World War 11.

The quality of primary schooling, particularly in the outlying Fijian areas, is acknowledged by the Government to be low. With nearly 1000 untrained teachers employed by the Education Department, an admission of a decline in the

teaching quality is not surprising. But the emphasis in a new five-year plan soon to come into operation is on teacher training and curriculum revision. The Education Department is looking towards the mid1980s with aims that in many countries would seem modest. They include: Provision to enable every child to have at least 10 years of education up to Form 4.

The staffing Of all primary schools wholly by trained teachers. The introduction of free education, first for Classes 1 to 6, then for Forms 1 to 4. Redress of the present imbalance in the education of Fijians and Indians. If the aims are modest, so too are the resources of Fiji. Already, 20 per cent of the Government spending goes towards education, and independence will put new strains on Government revenue. Whether or not the present “modest" plans prove over-ajnbitious, it is certain that for the next decade at least, Fiji’s education problems will continue to be major.