Minister for Education, Aseri Radrodro stands by his decision for the Bucalevu Secondary Under 17 rugby team to play in the Deans national quarter final, and says as the Minister, he will always strongly advise that Section 26 of the Constitution relating to the right to equality and freedom from discrimination, to be considered for all students.
The Fiji Secondary Schools Rugby Union remains silent as questions continue to be raised on whether Radrodro has the powers to intervene and direct the union to allow a disqualified school to be allowed to play in the Deans Competition.
Radrodro made a statement yesterday saying that the Bucalevu Secondary School side clearly won their match against Nabua Secondary School in last week’s qualification and they should be awarded a spot in the Vodafone Super Deans Under 17 National quarter final this weekend.
This follows the decision of the Fiji Secondary Schools Rugby Union to overturn the decision and award the win to Nabua Secondary School after they found out that Bucalevu fielded a player who had already played in their school’s under-16 team this year and was brought into play in the under 17 grade for the match last week.
When asked by fijivillage News whether he has the power to intervene and direct that the disqualified Bucalevu Under 17 team should play in the quarters, Radrodro says this rugby competition is training our students to be world class players despite the location and limited resources.
He says if the laws don't become friendly and fair, then we will have students migrating to urban schools just to play.
Radrodro says he strongly encourages the Fiji Secondary Schools Rugby Union to amend the law and make it suitable for the changing times and environment we are in to support the sport of rugby and lifelong learning.
He stresses that the primary concern here is fairness and equity to all students.
Radrodro says he is impressing on teachers and management to carry out their roles diligently.
The Education Minister says in this instance, the decision to disqualify was taken after the game was completed.
Radrodro asks why was the issue not determined prior to the game, and now you have to deprive the students who have played and won on the field.
The Minister says in addition, the laws must be flexible to reflect changing circumstances, times, and locations.
He says he has impressed upon the Fiji Secondary Schools Rugby Union last year to review the laws to make them internationally acceptable.
Radrodro says in international regulations, age is not necessarily a barrier as long as players are not changing clubs or schools where a down time would be required of a certain period.
He adds these laws of the Secondary Schools Rugby Union looks obsolete, where they are not taking into consideration rural school settings, limited students to play etc.
Radrodro says the Ministry of Education oversees student welfare, and the State’s interest must always be fairness and equity.
He also says he understands that Bucalevu Secondary has also lodged a complaint against Nabua Secondary, and he asks whether that has been investigated.
Radrodro asks who do the Fiji Secondary Schools Rugby Union report to, and what assurance do we have that they are acting in the best interest of all the children, students and schools engaged in the Deans Competition.
While responding to fijivillage News, Radrodro says as a Minister for Government, he will always consider customary law with respect to the State’s responsibilities.
He says the Fiji Government has recognised the need for fairness in marginalized areas in terms of resources for learning; less number of students etc and has thus allowed policies that give special benefits for students ie scholarship marks for TELS has recognized rural schools to have a lower mark threshold to urban schools.
Radrodro says the principles will need to be the same and that is what his office is impressing to those managing these children’s sports to consider as law.
Radrodro earlier said that Bucalevu won the game fairly and deserves to participate in the competition.
He further said that he has instructed the Permanent Secretary for Education Selina Kuruleca to inform the Fiji Secondary Schools Rugby Union executives that the game has been played and won by Bucalevu so they have to adhere to the results of the game.
Earlier
The Fiji Secondary Schools Rugby Union remains silent as questions continue to be raised on whether Minister of Education, Aseri Radrodro has the powers to intervene and direct the union to allow a disqualified school to be allowed to play in the Deans Rugby Competition.
Radrodro made a statement yesterday afternoon saying that the Bucalevu Secondary School under 17 side clearly won their match against Nabua Secondary School in last week’s qualification and they should be awarded a spot in the Vodafone Super Deans Under 17 National quarter final this weekend.
This follows the decision of the Fiji Secondary Schools Rugby Union to overturn the decision and award the win to Nabua Secondary School after they found out that Bucalevu fielded a player who had already played in their school’s under-16 team this year and was brought into play in the under 17 grade for the match last week.
In a statement on his official social media account, Radrodro stated that he confirmed the directive, stating that Bucalevu won the game fairly and deserves to participate in the competition.
He further stated that he has instructed the Permanent Secretary for Education Selina Kuruleca to inform the Fiji Secondary Schools Rugby Union executives that the game has been played and won by Bucalevu so they have to adhere to the results of the game.
We have been calling FSSRU for their comment but this has proved futile. We have also sent questions to them and are awaiting their response.
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