Keep Children Out of Politics – Rosy Akbar

Minister for Education Rosy Akbar has urged politicians to refrain from using children and their education to score cheap political points after Opposition member of Parliament, Lenora Qereqeretabua was quoted in the Fiji Times yesterday, claiming that the educational channel on Walesi was not accessible to all students - attributing to high costs.

Akbar says it is already common knowledge that as per the Fijian Government Subsidy Scheme, a Walesi set-top box comes completely free of cost to any Fijian earning below $30,000 a year per household.

Minister for Education Rosy Akbar has urged politicians to refrain from using children and their education to score cheap political points after Opposition member of Parliament, Lenora Qereqeretabua was quoted in the Fiji Times yesterday, claiming that the educational channel on Walesi was not accessible to all students - attributing to high costs.

Akbar says it is already common knowledge that as per the Fijian Government Subsidy Scheme, a Walesi set-top box comes completely free of cost to any Fijian earning below $30,000 a year per household.

The Education Minister says for families who can afford it, it costs from $89 to $99 and not $149, as said by the poorly researched NFP Member of Parliament in the poorly researched article by the Fiji Times.

Walesi has confirmed that 109,761 Fijian families have so far benefitted from the Government’s Walesi Subsidy Scheme and the free Walesi application (Android and iOS) has been downloaded over 400,000 times.

Akbar says these facts, in conjunction with the fact that 93% of the Fijian population is online, means that a large number of students should have access to the education content.

She also urges parents to get involved in their child’s education and encourage them to watch the channel.

Akbar also says every single school has been provided with the supplementary materials covering the same subject matter for parents to pick up, meaning should a student not have access to Walesi, they should have access to the same materials.

Akbar says the article also incorrectly states that they are holding classes over the Walesi television platform.

She says these are only supplementary classes which they are providing for the benefit of children and parents and none of these will be tested.

Akbar says every child will still go through all of these curricula with their teachers once school resumes.

Fijivillage has contacted Lenora Qereqeretabua regarding the comments by the Education Minister and Walesi. She said she will comment later.

Walesi clarifies misinformation by Opposition MP and Fiji Times

Walesi has today clarified that 109,761 Fijians have access to Walesi services through their Free Walesi Set Top Box provided through the government subsidy for those families earning $30,000 or less, there are 450,499 downloads of the Walesi app, there are 711 satellite installations across the country and the Set Top Boxes are sold at $99 and not $149.

The company has made this statement as it says that yesterday’s Fiji Times article about the Walesi TV Platform and the Education Channel is factually misleading, incorrect and without verification.

Walesi says the article incorrectly refers to the Walesi TV Distribution Device as “the Walesi Set Up Box.” The company says the device is called the Walesi Set Top Box.

Walesi also says the newspaper article quotes Opposition Member of Parliament, Lenora Qereqeretabua who claims that the cost of a Walesi Set Top Box is $149.

The company says this is incorrect as the maximum retail price of a Walesi Set Top Box is $99.

The company states that to provide greater accessibility to all Fijians, the Minister of Communications launched the Walesi Set Top Box Subsidy scheme in 2016.

The scheme subsidises free Walesi Set Top Box to any household which has a joint income under $30,000.

As of today, the Fijian Government Subsidy Scheme has benefited 109,761 Fijians who now have access to Walesi Services through their Free Walesi Set Top Box.

Walesi also says in total, 134,797 Walesi Set Top Boxes have been issued to Fijians across the country.

The company further says the newspaper and Qereqeretabua also fail in mentioning the other mediums to access Walesi services.

Walesi has 450,499 downloads of their app and this gives their users full accessibility to all channels including the education channel.

Walesi has 711 Satellite installations across the country with the majority of these installations in maritime areas where previously no TV transmission was available.

The company says it should also be noted that the newspaper nor the Member of Parliament bothered to contact Walesi to ascertain the facts.