A Year 8 teacher has expressed deep concerns about students not being able to read and asks why this is happening now as she started teaching in Fiji in 1997, and never had issues with non-readers back then.
While speaking during a public consultation on the Education Act 1966, the Marist Sister who is from Tonga, says many students drop out of school by Year 8 and become drug addicts and maybe not being able to read is the reason.
She says she is teaching Year 8 English and has to take extra classes just to teach students how to read and it is stressful.
The teacher says while she was teaching Year 8 in another school, she had asked the students who she had taught in Year 3, and they said there were three to five different teachers who came and went.
She says that level of instability affects learning and asks if something can be done to stop this from happening in the future.
She also says the education system is too exam-oriented and are designed for top-performing students, while those who cannot even read are expected to sit the same papers.
The teacher says she has observed that pilot programs introduced by countries like Australia or New Zealand are not effective and the child’s needs are not met.
The teacher asks if something can be developed based on the Fijian context.
The Marist Sister says she taught at Marist Champagnat Institute for five years, and in those five years, they had a new principal every year where the principals had no idea what the school was about.
The teacher is asking for a law to stop future governments from interfering in schools owned by faith-based organisations.
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