Minister for Education Rosy Akbar has confirmed that the Ministry of Education’s social media policy has been shelved.
She told Fijivillage that after the backlash they received, she agreed with the Permanent Secretary that the social media policy should be shelved.
The Education Ministry has confirmed it will be reviewing its social media policy to recognise that, with appropriate checks in place, teachers can maximise online platforms to establish professional relationships and direct lines of communication with parents and other teachers.
Under its review arrangements, the policy will be reviewed one year after approval for implementation by the Permanent Secretary and Minister for Education.
The Ministry of Education’s social media policy said that teachers should not accept or make “friend requests” from students or their parents on social media sites. It had said that if any exist, they should be “unfriended” immediately.
Some parents were concerned that this part of the policy was going to affect the professional relationship they have with their child's teacher.
These parents had said that through being friends with their child's teacher on social media they can regularly communicate and get updates on their child's progress.
The social media policy also stated all Education Ministry staff should not post photos of students on social media.
It went on to say that the Education Ministry staff should not be making negative comments about the government, ministers or members of parliament.
They are also not allowed to make any comments about national elections and the Ministry of Education.
Under the policy, social media means websites and applications that enable users to create and share content or to participate in social networking.
It says these may include but are not limited to Facebook, Facebook Messenger, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, and LinkedIn.
