Education Ministry alleges Fiji Times of irresponsibly reporting on exam dates

The Ministry of Education has clarified that there will be no face to face examinations until the COVID threat has passed and adds they are disappointed at the Fiji Times for its article “School Examination Dates Released”, published last Friday, that states examinations would be held from 12th October to 12th November this year.

Minister for Education, Rosy Akbar has assured parents that exams have been postponed till further notice, and that the information irresponsibly published by the newspaper is from a circular that was released on 30th March, before there were community cases of COVID-19.

She says not only did the newspaper knowingly publish information from an old circular, causing panic among parents and hindering the work of the frontliners and response teams but they did not even bother to do the ethical thing and get a response from them.

Akbar says during a time when so many Fijians, especially children and parents, are afraid of the deadly COVID-19 virus, Fiji Times and other media outlets, who are using these emotions to garner views, are directly putting the lives of people in danger.

The Minister urges all Fijians to get their information directly from the Fijian Government or the Ministry of Education, through its social media platform.

She is urging all journalists to refrain from this type of behaviour because irresponsible reporting undermines the Government's response efforts to save Fijian lives.

Akbar adds supplementary worksheets will be available for children to keep up with their education.

She says these worksheets are not mandatory, and all material in it will be retaught by teachers when school resumes so parents do not need to panic or worry, if it is not within their means to print or download worksheets.

The Minister says if parents cannot access worksheets, they can instead assist their children to read existing materials such as their story books, school textbooks, or materials from Term 1.

Akbar adds that they have also prepared educational lessons which will be broadcast on Radio Fiji 1, Radio Fiji 2 and the Walesi Educational Channel from Monday.

The schedule is on their social media.

We have sent questions to the Fiji Times and are waiting for their response.