Former Minister of Education and FijiFirst MP, Premila Kumar says schools were closed for more than three months in 2020 and eight months in 2021, causing a devastating impact on in-person learning.
This was Kumar’s response to a statement by Fijian Teachers Association President Netani Druavesi where he said the drop in the pass rate is because of the lengthy school terms.
Kumar adds that Druavesi said that the reason for the drop in pass rate in the Fiji Year Eight Examination is because of the lengthy school terms approved by the FijiFirst government.
The former Minister says there is no logic in his comparison and the drop in pass rate cannot be linked to four school terms in 2022 but to the pandemic resulting in the prolonged school closure.
She asks him to explain why the Ministry has recorded a higher pass rate of 88% for the Year 13 National Examination in 2022 with four school terms compared to 79% in 2019, taking into consideration that 2019 was a normal year.
She says FTA had sent an email on the subject ‘Consultation-2023 Academic Dates’ dated 3/10/22 at 8.41am to the Ministry and copied to all faith-based organisations, FTU, FTA Secretary General, Fiji Head Teachers Association to name a few in support of 4 school terms.
Kumar also says in the email, FTA stated that they had earlier written to former Permanent Secretary of Education Susan Kiran, supporting the 4 school terms.
She says the reasons given by FTA in support of 4 school terms were that teachers will have more breaks and shorter teaching terms thus psychologically it takes away a lot of stress, more in between holiday breaks from teaching, all sports to be completed in term 3, all year’s syllabus coverage to be completed by term 3, all Secondary External Exams to be completed by Week 6 Term 4, all External Exam results to be out before end of Term 4 and all school Prize Giving can include External Exam Results Awards.
The former Minister asks why is FTA changing its tune.
Kumar claims FTA is politically motivated, and they are trying to please the Coalition Government rather than protecting the well-being of their members.
She further adds FTA is ignoring the fact that the proposed four school terms were based on the international best practice that shows shorter terms have positive influence on student learning and keep students motivated while boosting teacher morale.
The former Minister is appealing to the teachers to wake up and see what is happening.
She says FTA understands the importance of four school terms and the benefits it will bring to the teachers who are stressed out dealing with students’ behaviour and managing parental expectation on a daily basis.
Kumar further says despite that, FTA is not bothered about teacher welfare but trying to be in the good books with the new Government.
FTA will comment tomorrow.
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