The late Ratu Sir Lala Sukuna once told a school teacher during the outbreak of World War II in 1939 that he could not join the army because he was already a member of another army and a very important one too.
The teacher, Viliame Tuivaga Baleilakeba, then aged 66, did not fully realise the importance of Ratu Sir Lala’s words until his retirement from teaching.
According to an article reported in the Fiji Times on February 20, 1976, Ratu Lala Sukuna successfully convinced Mr Baeilakeba from joining the military.
However, Mr Baleilakeba had not regretted clinging on to his profession after he unsuccessfully tried to join the army because of pay dissatisfaction.
That year the Education Department lost a number of teachers who were prepared to join the army because they were not happy with their pay.
As recruiting officer, Ratu Sir Lala saw the rapid drift of teachers to the army.
He stepped in and tried to prevent them from joining, fearing that it would create an acute shortage of teachers.
Mr Baleilakeba might have been one of the many retired teachers he stopped before the situation had become critical.
Ratu Sir Lala told Mr Baleilakeba that Fiji’s education would regress 100 years if many teachers left the profession.
On his advice, Mr Baleilakeba decided to continue teaching with the aim of bringing up the young generation to become useful loyal and law-abiding citizens of Fiji.
He said Ratu Sir Lala’s words echoed through the decades.
So Mr Baleilakeba embarked on a mission he thought would go on forever. In fact he was only too willing to continue when he was reappointed after retiring in 1973.
He had eventually retired for good, but Mr Baleilakeba felt he still could work for another 10 years at least.
His early, years were ones that the modern day teachers would not have survived or tolerated.
In 1929, Mr Baleilakeba passed the then qualifying examination at Queen Victoria School when it was at Nasinu, the later site of the Teachers Training College.
The following year he joined Natabua Teachers Training Institution and in 1931.
He was given his first appointment to teach at the Toorak Methodist Mission School in Suva.
Two years later he was transferred to Sawani Provincial School.
It was at Sawani, where Adi Cakobau School now stands, that Mr Baleilakeba got the first taste of what real teaching was like.
He recalled more time was spent on outdoor activities than on in-classroom work.
He said for such a boarding school like Sawani, this was predominantly the basis of education.
Students had to learn the hard way and as they saw it in those days, this was the only way to teach them discipline.
The widely accepted belief was that discipline was the basic element in a good citizen.
He said teachers were looked down upon with respect from the people.
“We are supposed to set the example in practically everything we do – our behaviour in public, dress and other things.
“In the old days we can differentiate teachers easily from a crowd through their dress and appearance.
“But today you may meet a shaggy haired person with jeans in the street without knowing that he holds a degree and is a secondary school teacher.”
He said he still believed that some of the old practices and ideas were needed to shape present-day society into a peaceful and harmonious one.
