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Fiji Time: 12:27 AM on Thursday 23 May

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It's a teacher's life

Solomoni Biumaiono
Saturday, May 12, 2012

For the last 15 years, he has been a teacher, and he has only been teaching in the first ever school he was posted to. Meet Master Semiti Koto, a man who hails from Yakete Village in Nalotawa in Ba.

Master Semiti was first posted to Gaunavou Primary School in Yasawa in 1997. He has been there ever since.

When asked why he didn't want to move anywhere else, he says he just preferred staying at Gaunavou Primary School.

Now Master Semiti is the head teacher of the school, a post which he has held for the last five years.

Being the head teacher at a very young age is not lost on Master Semiti as he takes his calling seriously and he works hard to give the best to his students.

Master Semiti even met his wife there, also a teacher who was posted there.

She fell in love with this man from Ba and they have been teaching together ever since.

Earlier this year he was supposed to have been transferred to another school but fate intervened and he was allowed to stay at his beloved Gaunavou Primary School.

He first completed his high school education at Ba's Kamil Muslim College and graduated in 1995.

Then it was straight into Lautoka Teachers College. Two years later he was posted to Gaunavou Primary School on Gunu Village in the Yasawa Islands.

Master Semiti remembered how he and his cousin Moape went through primary and secondary school before they both joined LTC.

"That is the thing. We went through from primary, secondary right up to Lautoka Teachers College. There he (Moape) applied to be posted to the islands and I applied to be posted to a school closer to the village. Instead the ministry somehow posted me to Yasawa and Moape got posted inland," Master Semiti said.

Now his cousin Moape is teaching at the Namamanuca Primary School on Yanuya Island in the Mamanuca group of islands.

But this is not the only joy for master Semiti, his greatest joy is seeing one of his students complete his education and is now also a teacher.

"Most of my students now have gone onto tertiary education and one is now a teacher," he says.

This has made this Ba man more determined to offer the best education he can afford to his new charges.

Looking after 152 students from kindergarten right up to Class Eight and with only five teachers, this is a huge calling for Semiti, a challenge he has been able to face for the last five years as the head of school.

One of his pet intentions is to get the best and cheapest energy option available for his students, to allow them to use the latest technology.

And one thing he has seen so far, in his 15 years of service is that, his parents have always been supportive of his work and so far, have supported everything the school needs.

While his career is beginning to bear fruits, Master Semiti is now concentrating on using his skills and talent to develop his village.

After many discussions and meetings with his fellow Yakete villagers, Master Semiti and of course, his cousin Moape, now head a committee which has established a scholarship fund for Yakete villagers.

As landowners of the tributary and water catchment area for the Vaturu Dam, Yakete villagers have put aside a considerable amount of money to allow their children to pursue further education in major centres in Fiji.

"This is the first time this has been done. Before, members of the clans and the Yavusa used to just distribute the money amongst themselves," Master Semiti says.

But for the time being, he will be returning to his teaching position at Gunu Village in Yasawa where he will resume teaching next week.