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Statement of the Minister for Education, National Heritage, Culture & Arts and Youth & Sports, Hon. Filipe Bole Launch of TVET Week JJ’s on the Park,Monday 4 August, 2008, at 9.00am ADDRESS - REPRESENTATIVES FROM VARIOUS INDUSTRIES - LOCAL AND INTERNATIONAL EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTION REPRESENTATIVES - DONOR AGENCY REPS - TVET PARTNERS - DISTINGUISHED LADIES AND GENTLEMEN INTRODUCTORY REMARKS I AM VERY PLEASED TO PARTICIPATE TODAY AT THE OFFICIAL OPENING OF THE 2008 SYMPOSIUM AND TVET WEEK. AT THE OUTSET, I WOULD LIKE TO EXTEND THE MINISTRY’S GREAT APPRECIATION TO ALL OUR DONOR AGENCIES FOR THE IMMENSE CONTRIBUTION AND CONTINUED SUPPORT TOWARDS THE DEVELOPMENT OF TVET IN FIJI. I KNOW, WITHOUT YOUR SUPPORT, TECHNICAL AND VOCATIONAL EDUCATION WOULDN’T HAVE REACHED THE STAGE WHERE WE ARE TODAY. I WOULD ALSO LIKE TO THANK ALL OUR TVET PARTNERS, ALL TERTIARY INSTITUTIONS AND TVET OFFICERS OF THE MINISTRY, FOR WORKING HAND IN HAND IN ORDER TO STAGE THIS ANNUAL EVENT. IN THE RECENT PAST, TECHNICAL VOCATIONAL EDUCATION HAS EMERGED FROM A PERIPHERAL CONCERN TO A DEMANDING AND DYNAMIC COMPONENT OF EDUCATION. THIS PARADIGM SHIFT RESULTED FROM THE REALIZATION THAT TRADITIONAL TRADING, COMMERCE AND SERVICE SECTORS ALONE CANNOT PROVIDE JOBS FOR THE NUMBER OF SCHOOL LEAVERS IN A GROWING POPULATION. IT WAS FOR THIS REASON, THAT MANY DEVELOPING COUNTRIES, WITH THE ASSISTANCE OF INTERNATIONAL DONORS, OPTED TO DEVELOP A SUSTAINABLE TVET EDUCATION SYSTEM. INDIA, KOREA, CHINA, TO NAME A FEW, WERE SOME OF THE FIRST COUNTRIES TO FOLLOW THIS PATHWAY. SINGAPORE IS ALSO A CLASSIC EXAMPLE OF A NATION WHOSE ECONOMY GAINED SIGNIFICANT PROGRESS THROUGH THE DEVELOPMENT OF ITS VOCATIONAL TECHNICAL EDUCATION PROGRAMME, OR VTE, AS IT IS BETTER KNOWN. NO DOUBT, MANY OF YOU ARE FAMILIAR WITH THE SINGAPOREAN VTE MODEL. A TINY ISLAND LEFT ON ITS OWN AFTER ITS SEPARATION FROM MALAYSIA IN 1965, THE COUNTRY FLOUNDERED AND STRUGLLED IN ITS FIRST YEARS OF INDEPENDENCE. ALMOST THIRTY YEARS ON, IT WAS THE SHEER POLITICAL WILL OF THE PEOPLE, HARD WORK, AND A STRONG AND EFFECTIVE VOCATIONAL TECHNICAL EDUCATION SYSTEM THAT EVENTUALLY LED SINGAPORE TO TRANSFORM ITSELF FROM THIRD WORLD TO FIRST WORLD STATUS. WHILE FIJI MIGHT STILL BE CLOSER TO THE THRESHOLD-END OF THE DOOR TO A FULLY-FUNCTIONAL TVET SYSTEM, YOUR VERY PRESENCE HERE TODAY IS EVIDENCE OF YOUR COMMITMENT TO THE REALIZATION THAT TVET IS INDEED THE KEY TO ECONOMIC PROGRESS FOR OUR NATION. WITH THE EMPHASIS ON TVET, THE LAST FEW DECADES HAVE SEEN A CHANGE WHICH EXEMPLIFIES THE PARTNERHSIP BETWEEN INDUSTRY AND EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS, AND INDEED, SOME OF THE INSTRUMENTS DEVISED IN RECENT TIMES HAVE GIVEN THIS PARTNERSHIP A BOOST IN ITS CONTINUITY AND FORCE. WE ARE GETTING THERE, NO DOUBT, AND THE QUESTION IN OUR MINDS IN THE FOLLOWING DAYS OF THIS WEEK, SHOULD BE, HOW BEST A TVET CURRICULUM CAN BE SHAPED SO THAT ITS SERVICE TO THE NATION CAN BE IMPROVED. I THEREFORE GREET YOU ALL THIS MORNING WITH PARTICULAR PLEASURE, FOR THE RANGE AND DEPTH OF TECHNICAL AND VOCATIONAL ACHIEVEMENT REPRESENTED IN THIS ROOM CONSTITUTES THE SEEDBED OF OUR NATION’S FUTURE. INSTITUTION-INDUSTRY LINAKAGES ON THAT NOTE, MAY I ADD, THAT THE PROSPERITY OF A NATION CAN ONLY BE POSSIBLE THROUGH A STRONG AND THRIVING PARTNERSHIP BETWEEN THE PUBLIC AND PRIVATE SECTORS. THE FORMER ASSISTANT DIRECTOR GENERAL OF THE ILO SUMMED THIS IDEA UP VERY WELL AT THE 2ND INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS ON TECHNICAL VOCATIONAL EDUCATION IN SEOUL, BY STATING THAT “GOVERNMENTS ALONE CANNOT MEET ALL THE NEEDS OF A GLOBAL ECONOMY; THE ROLE OF THE PRIVATE SECTOR HAS BECOME INCREASINGLY IMPORTANT.” UNQUOTE. I CANNOT AGREE MORE. HENCE, IT IS TIMELY AND USEFUL THAT WE ARE ALL GATHERED HERE TODAY AND THAT WE WILL CONTINUE DIALOGUING OVER THE NEXT FEW DAYS TO FIND THE ROAD TO THE FUTURE FOR TECHNICAL/VOCATIONAL EDUCATION IN FIJI. THIS ROAD SHOULD TAKE US TO A LEVEL WHERE WE CAN TARGET A SMOOTHER TRANSITION FROM SCHOOL TO WORK. IT SHOULD ENABLE US TO HAVE A MORE ADAPTABLE LABOUR FORCE THAT IS WELL-TRAINED IN LIFE-LONG LEARNING. SKILL GAPS IN FIJI THE RAPID TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENT WE ARE WITNESSING IN THESE EARLY YEARS OF THE 21ST CENTURY, TOGETHER WITH THE FORCES OF GLOBALIZATION, HAVE LED TO RADICAL CHANGES IN THE WORLD OF WORK DURING THE PAST SEVERAL DECADES A MISMATCH HAS BEEN EVIDENT IN MANY COUNTRIES BETWEEN THE SKILLS IMPARTED BY THE EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS AND THOSE DEMANDED BY THE WORKPLACE. THIS MISMATCH HAS BEEN AGRAVATED IN RECENT YEARS WITH THE INTEGRATION OF NEW TECHNOLOGIES IN ALMOST EVERY SPHERE OF PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITY. LIKE OTHER COUNTRIES, SKILL GAPS IN FIJI ARE DUE TO A NUMBER OF REASONS, ONE OF WHICH IS THE DEMAND FOR SKILLS THAT ARE NOT ATTAINED HERE. AS YOU ARE ALL AWARE, THE TOURISM INDUSTRY AND THE BUILDING INDUSTRY HAVE FALLEN VICTIMS TO THIS STATE OF AFFAIRS. SINCE 2002, THERE HAS BEEN SUBSTANTIAL INCREASE IN CONSTRUCTION ACTIVITY, WHICH HAS RESULTED IN INCREASED DEMANDS FOR SKILLED WORKERS, WHICH OFTEN EXCEEDS THE SUPPLY OF TVET GRADUATES. IN 2005, THERE WAS A 70% INCREASE IN CONSTRUCTION ACTIVITY, AND ONE ONLY HAS TO TAKE A DRIVE AROUND SUVA FOR TEN MINUTES TO SEE THE HIVE OF ACTIVITY THAT IS TAKING PLACE RIGHT NOW AT THE CONSTRUCTION SITES OF NUMEROUS HIGH-RISE STRUCTURES. SOME WORK ALSO REQUIRES TECHNICAL ABILITIES BEYOND THE STANDARD GENERALLY ACHIEVED LOCALLY. ADVANCED LEVEL SKILLS IN HIGH-STANDARD FINISHING IN CONSTRUCTION WORK AND ADVANCED SKILLS IN COOKING FOR THE TOURISM POPULATION, ARE ALSO IN THIS CATEGORY. FOR THIS REASON, THE NUMBER OF WORK PERMITS ISSUED TO EXPATRIATES IS QUITE SUBSTANTIAL. IN 2003, 1,347 WORK PERMITS WERE ISSUED. IT IS INDEED A DISCOURAGING IRONY THAT WHILE WE SOURCE WORKERS FROM OVERSEAS, WE HAVE AVAILABLE LOCALLY, A LARGE NUMBER OF ABLE-BODIED CITIZENS WHO JUST CANNOT FIT THE BILL, BECAUSE TRAINING FACILITIES ARE NOT AVAILABLE HERE. THE LABOUR MARKET IS GROWING BUT THIS GROWTH IS INSUFFICIENT TO ABSORB ENTRANTS TO THE LABOUR MARKET WHICH IS ESTIMATED TO BE AROUND 17, 000 (INCLUDING ABOUT 14,000 SCHOOL LEAVERS) EACH YEAR. THE PROSPECTS OF THESE YOUNG SCHOOL LEAVERS OBTAINING PAID EMPLOYMENT IN THE FORMAL ECONOMIC SECTOR IS LIMITED AND APPEARS TO BE DIMINISHING. IN 2004 AN ESTIMATED 4,000 NEW JOBS WERE GENERATED BY THE ECONOMY AND AN ADDITIONAL 5,000 VACANCIES WERE CREATED AS A RESULT OF OUT-MIGRATION AND NATURAL ATTRITION IN THE LABOUR FORCE. THUS, JOBS WERE AVAILABLE FOR ONLY ABOUT HALF OF THOSE ENTERING THE LABOUR MARKET. CONNECTING EDUCATION WITH THE WORLD OF WORK HEREIN, THEN LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, LIES THE DILEMMA. THE REMEDY, I BELIEVE, IS APTLY SUMMED UP IN THE 2000 EDUCATION COMMISSION REPORT THAT STATES “IN RESPONSE TO THE RAPIDLY CHANGING NATURE OF THE WORKFORCE AND THE SKILLS REQUIRED TO PERFORM EFFECTIVELY WITHIN THIS CHANGING CONTEXT, SCHOOLS ARE CALLED UPON TO PROVIDE PROGRAMMES FOR ALL STUDENTS, WHICH SUPPORT GREATER UNDERSTANDING OF THE WORLD OF WORK AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF THOSE SKILLS AND ABILITIES WHICH THEY WILL NEED TO DEMONSTRATE IN THEIR WORKING LIVES.” AGAIN, I WISH TO REITERATE THE FACT, THAT THE SCHOOL ALONE CANNOT ACHIEVE THIS. THE INDUSTRY BECOMES A VALUABLE PARTNER IF WE ARE TO PRODUCE A CURRICULUM THAT WILL SMOOTHLY CONNECT THE GRADUATING STUDENT TO HIS WORK ENVIRONMENT. HOWEVER, BEFORE THIS PARTNERSHIP CAN BE VIABLE, FIRST UP, WE WILL NEED INFORMATION ON THE LABOUR MARKET. AN ADB REPORT ON TECHNICAL VOCATIONAL SKILLS DEVELOPMENT IN FIJI THAT WAS PUBLISHED IN 2007, CONTAINS SOME VERY INTERESTING STATISTICS AND ONE OF THE WEAKNESSES IDENTIFIED IN THE REPORT IS THE LACK OF INFORMATION ON THE FIJI LABOUR MARKET. PERHAPS THE INFORMATION IS AVAILABLE, WHAT IT LACKS IS A VIGOROUS AND COHESIVE COORDINATION STRATEGY. I AM SURE THERE WILL BE DISCUSSIONS ON THIS MATTER DURING THE TVET SYMPOSIUM. THE STATISTICS AND INFORMATION ON THE LABOUR MARKET ARE VITAL, BECAUSE THE PROVISION OF A RELEVANT CURRICULUM BY OUR LOCAL INSTITUTIONS CAN ONLY BECOME RELEVANT IF THEY ARE FURNISHED WITH THESE FIGURES. THE INSITUTIONS BEING THE SUPPLIERS, IT GOES WITHOUT SAYING THEN, THAT THE DEMANDS CAN ONLY BE IDENTIFIED THROUGH THE AVAILABILITY OF LABOUR MARKET INFORMATION. INTERESTINGLY, THE SAME ADB REPORT, I HAD MENTIONED EARLIER GOES FURTHER TO SAY, THAT ANOTHER MAJOR HURDLE IN TVET IN FIJI IS THAT “SOME ENTERPRISES ARE RELUCTANT TO PROVIDE PRACTICAL EXPERIENCE TO TVET STUDENTS”. GIVEN THAT THERE ARE RISKS IN THIS PRACTICE, I SUPPOSE WE CAN ALL UNDERSTAND THE REASONS WHY. HAVING SAID THAT, I AM STILL OF THE FIRM OPINION, THAT THE PARTNERSHIP IS VITAL, AND THAT TVET CANNOT PROGRESS WITHOUT THE INDUSTRY. GIVEN THIS SCENARIO, IT IS MY HOPE, THAT YOUR SYMPOSIUM WILL VIGOROUSLY PURSUE THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A SYSTEM OR A FRAMEWORK THAT WILL ADDRESS THE HURDLES THAT ARE IN THE WAY OF INDUSTRY-INSTITUTION LINKAGES. THE WAY FORWARD FOR TVET IN FIJI IN MY OPINION, THE BEST WAY TO BEGIN IS FOR EACH OF US TO CLEAN UP OUR OWN BACKYARDS FIRST. I EXPECT, YOUR DELIBERATIONS OVER THE NEXT TWO DAYS TO ABLY ADDRESS THIS. WHILE I MIGHT NOT BE TOO FAMILIAR WITH THE STRUCTURES OF THE INDUSTRY MACHINERY, I BELIEVE, THE EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS NEED SOME COORDINATED PLAN OF SORTS. FIT HAS ITS OWN PLANS, TPAF HAS ITS OWN AND THE MINISTRY OF EDUCATION HAS ITS OWN. THEN WE HAVE OUR OWN SMALL PLANS WITHIN THE BIG PLANS, AND BEING THE HUMAN BEINGS THAT WE ARE, OUR PLANNING IS NEVER ENDING. HOWEVER, I ENCOURAGE A MACRO VIEW OF THIS PLANNING PROCESS AND UNLESS WE DO THAT, WE WILL ALL BE SCRAMBLING AROUND IN PIECE-MEAL FASHION WITHOUT AN EFFECTIVE SOLUTION TO THE NATIONAL CRISIS OF SOLVING OUR MANPOWER NEEDS. PERHAPS A GOOD STARTING POINT WOULD BE TO ALIGN OURSELVES TO INTERNATIONAL CONVENTIONS THAT FIJI IS PARTY TO. FIJI HAS MADE COMITTMENTS TO THE MILLENNIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALS, THE UNESCO DECADE OF EDUCATION FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT [2005-2014], TO THE EUROPEAN UNION AND OTHER REGIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL TREATIES. WE NEED TO MEASURE UP TO THE COMMITMENTS MADE. LAST MONTH, FIJI HOSTED THE CONFERENCE ON IMPROVING HARMONIZATION AND MONITORING & EVALUATION FOR BETTER EDUCATION RESULTS. AT THAT FORUM, WE TABLED OUR MID-DECADE ASSESSMENT FOR EDUCATION FOR ALL. OUR REPORT CONTAINED SOME ENLIGHTENING STATISTICS. AT SECONDARY LEVEL, THE REPETITION RATE FOR GIRLS IS OVER 5%. FOR BOYS, IT IS 3%. WHILE THERE COULD BE SOCIO-ECONOMIC REASONS FOR THE REPETIONS AT SCHOOL, PERHAPS, ANOTHER MAJOR CONTRIBUTING FACTOR IS OUR HIGHLY ACADEMIC CURRICULUM. OUR REPEATING STUDENTS MAY NOT BE ACADEMICALLY INCLINED. AND IF THEY WERE STUDYING TECHNICAL/VOCATIONAL SUBJECTS, WE WOULD NOT BE HAVING SO MANY REPEATERS AT FORM 6 LEVEL. THIS ASSUMPTION TIES IN VERY WELL, WITH OUR EFA STATISTICS ON ENROLMENT BY SEX IN THE VOCATIONAL PROGRAMME, WHERE MALES TOTALED OVER 1,600 AND FEMALES SLIGHTLY OVER 84O, IN 2006. I BELIEVE, WE HAVE CHOSEN A HIGHLY SUITABLE THEME FOR THIS WEEK. GIVEN THE CURRENT ISSUES THAT HAVE PLAGUED OUR EDUCATION SYSTEM FOR SO LONG, THERE IS DEFINITELY A NEED FOR EXTENDING THE EDUCATION FRONTIER THROUGH TVET. HOWEVER, BY ALIGNING OUR PLANNING TO INTERNATIONAL CONVENTIONS AND STANDARDS WE ALSO OPEN OURSELVES UP TO DONOR ASSISTANCE, AND TVET BEING WHAT IT IS, IT IS A KNOWN FACT, THAT THE IMPLEMENTATION OF A TVET CURRICULUM COSTS ABOUT FOUR TIMES MORE THAN THE ACADEMIC ONE. THERE IS NOW AN URGENT NEED FOR CONDUCTING SCOPING WORKS, FOR IDENTIFYING FUNCTIONS, FOR DESIGNING ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURES, FOR IDENTIFYING CRITERIA AND PROCEDURES AND FOR SETTING BENCHMARKS. ONCE ALL THIS IS CLEARLY ESTABLISHED AND MAPPED OUT, THEN, AND ONLY THEN, SHOULD WE HAVE THE CONFIDENCE OF OUR BEING READY FOR THE ESTABLISHMENT OF FIJI’S FIRST UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY. IN THE MEANTIME, LET US BEGIN ELIMINATING THE STIGMA OF TVET BEING SECOND IN STATUS TO ACADEMIC SUBJECTS. WE HAVE, FOR TOO LONG, ONLY PAID LIP SERVICE TO THIS AGENDA. ON OUR PART, THE MINISTRY OF EDUCATION, HAS THIS YEAR, FULLY IMPLEMENTED ITS COMPULSORY EDUCATION PROGRAMME, NATION WIDE. HENCE, FOR THE FIRST TIME, THIS YEAR, ALL STUDENTS IN FORMS 3 AND 4 WILL BE TAKING AT LEAST ONE TVET SUBJECT AT THE FIJI JUNIOR CERTIFICATE LEVEL. THIS IN ITSELF, I BELIEVE IS AN ACHIEVEMENT. TVET WAS GIVEN IMPETUS DURING THE 1969 EDUCATION COMMISSION REPORT. WE HAD MANY RURAL JUNIOR SECONDARY SCHOOLS MUSHROOMING THROUGHOUT THE NATION. SOON THEY WERE SHORT OF STUDENTS, NOT BECAUSE THE BIRTH RATE HAD DECREASED BUT BECAUSE THE TVET SUBJECTS WERE NOT EXAMINABLE AND THE PARENTS BY-PASSED THEIR VILLAGE-BASED JUNIOR SECONDARY SCHOOLS AND SENT THEIR CHILDREN TO SCHOOLS THAT OFFERED ACADEMIC EXAMINABLE SUBJECTS. WE WERE BACK TO SQUARE ONE AGAIN. THERE ARE SOME VALUABLE RECOMMENDATIONS MADE ON TVET, IN THE 2000 EDUCATION COMMISSION REPORT. THE ANNEXE TO THE CHAPTER ON TVET PROVIDES A DRAFT OF A NATIONAL QUALIFICATIONS AUTHORITY. TPAF HAS WORKED VERY HARD OVER THE RECENT PAST TO PUT THIS AGENCY IN PLACE, AND WITH THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE HIGHER EDUCATION COMMISSION, THERE ARE NOW PLANS TO HAVE THE FIJI NATIONAL QUALIFICATIONS AUTHORITY, WORKING IN TANDEM WITH THE COMMISSION. CONCLUDING REMARKS WE ARE GETTING THERE, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN. OUR ACTS ARE COMING TOGETHER, AND WITH MORE CONSULTATIONS AND COOPERATIONS OF THIS NATURE, I CAN SEE A BRIGHT LIGHT AT THE END OF THE TUNNEL. IN CONCLUSION, THE DELOR’S UNESCO REPORT HAS A MARVELOUS DEFINITION OF EDUCATION. THE DEFINITION ALSO IDENTIFIES THE RANGE OF LEARNING THAT STUDENTS NEED TO EXPERIENCE IN ORDER TO BE ADEQUATELY PREPARED FOR ACTIVE PARTICIPATION IN ALL ASPECTS OF LIFE IN THE 21ST CENTURY. THE REPORT SUGGESTS THAT EDUCATION SHOULD BE BUILT AROUND FOUR PILLARS; LEARNING TO KNOW, LEARNING TO DO, LEARNING TO LIVE TOGETHER, AND LEARNING TO BE. IF THE TOTAL DEVELOPMENT NEEDS OF OUR CHILDREN, OF OUR INSITUTITIONS, OUR INDUSTRIES AND OUR NATION ARE TO BE ADDRESSED, THEN WE SHOULD ALL MAKE A CONCERTED EFFORT TO HELP OUR YOUNG PEOPLE LEARN TO DO, AS WELL AS TO KNOW. FINALLY, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, I AM FERVENTLY LOOKING FORWARD TO THE RESOLUTIONS OF THIS WEEK’S EXPOSITION AND SYMPOSIUM. I HOPE YOU WILL ENJOY THE ACTIVITIES THAT HAVE BEEN PLANNED. AND WITH THOSE WORDS, I HAVE MUCH PLEASURE IN OFFICIALLY DECLARING OPEN, THE TECHNICAL VOCATIONAL EDUCATION AND TRAINING WEEK FOR 2008! VINAKA VAKALEVU! -End- |
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