Bula
Travel allowances for parliamentarians have been slashed by more than half. The reduction followed the passing of a motion by Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka, who said this was being done for the people of Fiji. The new rates come into effect from December 1. That’s the lead on Page 1 of The Fiji Times for Thursday, November 23.
In the second story, the Fiji First government spent $74 million on domestic and overseas travel between 2014 and 2022, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance, Prof Biman Prasad informed Parliament.
He made the comments while speaking on a motion to reduce the overseas travel allowance for members of parliament. “Look at the travel budget of the previous Prime minister and government so that the critics can understand,” he said. “In the last eight years, they spent a total of $74 million on domestic and overseas travel. This is the travel cost of the previous government – this is the extent of the expenditure.”
“From 2014 to 2022, total domestic travel for the previous government was $50.4 million.”
“For overseas travel from 2014 to 2022, it was $24 million. These are the figures from the Ministry of Finance.”
Synopsis
So our school dropout range has been 0.5 per cent on average over the past eight years!
Minister for Education Aseri Radrodro explained in Parliament on Monday, that while this data was captured through the Fiji Education Management Information System (FEMIS), the figures may vary as not all registered schools were captured under the system.
The September Education Status Report, he said, indicated that the highest number of school dropouts from primary and secondary education were iTaukei male students in rural communities.
Many young people are dropping out of school or being denied quality education, he said, and reasons vary for each country. The ministry, he said, was strategising to detect early risk of dropout and provide subsequent intervention, carried out by heads of schools and teachers.
Mr Radrodro also said the ministry’s drugs and substance abuse unit based in Nasinu was engaging with schools and communities with regards to this issue. There is hope for programs where extra support is provided to students and training for teaching staff to integrate creative and innovative methods of keeping children engaged in classrooms. “We also hope to provide more training to teachers and through our teacher training colleges in how to be understanding, kind, tolerant and inspiring teachers with patience and tenacity to turn a problematic student into a success story.”
In August last year, a report released by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) revealed that the challenge to be a breadwinner for their families was one reason boys were dropping out secondary schools in Fiji.
The report suggested that inadequate parental support and the lack of parental engagement with education stakeholders was resulting in boys’ disengagement from education in Fiji.
Fixing the dropout challenges will require workable strategies.
Given the fact that education is already paid for to a large extent by the State, it is difficult to comprehend that students are still dropping out.
There is a need to provide incentives for students to first of all go to school and for parents to send them there. You would think providing the base for education for every child would be a start! And you would think having that platform would provide the incentive for parents and guardians to keep their children motivated and in school!
Perhaps a key factor then is the family and how we engage them.
There is the bit about motivating families to appreciate education, and empower children to get educated?
As we have stated, that is a major step forward.
We all know how vital education is for the development of our nation. Now that message has to be embraced!
