Prominent Suva lawyer Richard Naidu has questioned how the Government can afford new tablets for students when it already has to borrow $1.8 billion this year to cover its spending.
This follows Minister for Education Premila Kumar’s comments in Nausori yesterday that they will be dismantling all computer labs in schools and each and every school will now be buying tablets.
Kumar also said they can request for funding in the National Budget to buy all these tablets.
In a statement, Naidu says the Education Minister’s comment perfectly illustrates the incompetence of the FijiFirst Government.
He says they make up their ideas as they go along, consulting no one and speaking without thinking.
Naidu says the reasons Kumar gives for her new plan is because she has seen computer labs with defunct computers gathering dust and based on this, she has single handedly decided that tablets are a better idea.
He says Kumar speaks using the word “I” but these things are not about her.
Naidu says this is about everyone in our education community.
He further says many Fiji schools have computer labs because parents, teachers and friends raised funds, donated equipment and obtained sponsorship.
Naidu adds the Minister insults these contributions from school communities and she has not stopped to think about partnership with the community on making school computer labs work better.
He says the real problem is not whether computer labs or tablets are better but it is about finding the best way to equip our school children for a 21st century electronic world.
Naidu says if Kumar stopped to think and consult others, she would learn that there are many different alternatives.
He says the Prime Minister says the Opposition has no policies but his own Ministers, who have whole government departments and aid organisations to advise them certainly have no idea.
We have sent questions to the Education Minister and are waiting her response.
