Kuruleca pursues legal redress relating to music video Buna as no written approval sought

Permanent Secretary for Education, Selina Kuruleca says as the manager of all government schools, she is pursuing legal redress presently in relation to the shooting of a VT1S music video Buna which features many Adi Cakobau School students at the school.

Kuruleca says no approval or consent was obtained from the Principal and or the Ministry of Education.

She says all and any movement into schools must have the explicit written approval of the Ministry of Education and the Fiji Teachers Registration Authority.

Kuruleca says in this case, neither was obtained.

VT1S had said in a post that VTBOP Music has removed the Official Visualiser for VT1S - Buna from the VT1S YouTube Channel.

It says this was their decision and it was made out of great concern for the comments directed at the students and their artist.

They say no official request to remove the video was communicated to VTBOP Music.

They say they want to clearly state that VT1S had sought and secured the relevant approvals before filming.

They say the safety of everyone involved in the making of art at VTBOP Music is their number one priority and they stand firm in preserving these values.

However the Permanent Secretary for Education has questioned who they got the approvals from.

When questioned by fijivillage News, Managing Director of Spinning Village Media and VTBOP Music, Tikiko Korocowiri says the team from VT1S was in touch with the Principal of ACS who gave them approval to film on site at the school.

He says the team also ensured that the cheerleaders sought parental consent which was organized by their teacher with the parents, before the filming continued.

When asked by us on whether they had received written approvals from the Principal, the Permanent Secretary for Education and all parents whose children featured in the music video, Korocowiri says they had verbal consent from the Principal and parents.

Korocowiri says if it was communicated to them that they needed written approval from the Ministry, they would have not carried on with the filming.

Some concerned citizens including those connected with the civil society say under the child protection policy, the Ministry of Education and the school should never have approved this, let alone considered it.

The Ministry of Education is expected to comment further tomorrow.

Police ACP Crime, Mesake Waqa says the matter has been referred to Police from the Ministry of Education.

They will give further details later.