The Minister for Education, Heritage & Arts, Premila Kumar, commissioned new buildings and major upgrade work at Naloto District School which was funded by the Fijian Government on Friday, 10 December, 2021.
The rehabilitation works funded by the Government confirms its commitment towards creating a safe and modern teaching and learning environment for our students.
Whilst commissioning the buildings, Minister Kumar informed the Naloto community that based on Government policy, all the new buildings are built better to withstand Category 5 cyclone and the buildings are in compliance with the Fiji National Building Code; having a valid engineer’s certificate.
This 85-year-old school, tucked in the interior of Ba, suffered a huge setback when its buildings were heavily damaged by TC Winston in 2016, leaving the students, teachers and the management in bewilderment as to what the future would hold for them, with respect to education.
And as usual, the Fijian Government stepped in with the investment of approximately $1.6m which resulted in four new, one by two teachers’ quarters and a generator room together with some major upgrading work to classroom block, dormitory, remaining teacher’s quarters, ablution block and the walkway.
Meli Tuilevu Seru, the Headteacher of the school, said, "The magnitude of this gift from the Government has brought an incredible relief to the stakeholders of Naloto District School, which the people of Naloto Community will always cherish. Now the students will have a more conducive learning environment when they will return to school and I thank the Fijian Government for this kind gesture."
The Minister said, "It is now up to the head of school, teachers, students and the management committee to treat this asset with care so that future teachers and students can still use it in the same condition as it is now. I call upon teachers to treat the facilities as if it was their own homes."
The Minister assured the community of Naloto that the Fijian Government will treat all schools the same irrespective of the school location or size to ensure there is no disparity in terms of the education accessibility and quality.
"A lot has changed in the education sector for the better. In the past, the community had to fund-raise to build and repair schools. Today, this Government is building and repairing schools, taking the financial burden away from the community, parents and teachers, who were forever involved in fund-raising."
Minister Kumar also took the opportunity to applaud the community for getting vaccinated and urged others who are yet to get vaccinated to do so.
"I am happy to share with you that 39 per cent of 12 to 14-year-old children have received their first jab of the Pfizer vaccine and seven per cent been fully vaccinated since it was rolled out on the 15th of November” Minister Kumar.
She also highlighted that 74 per cent of the students aged 15-17 have received their first dose of the Moderna vaccine with 55 per cent are now fully vaccinated and thanked the students and their parents for making the right decision.
Teachers were also commended by Minister Kumar for all the sacrifices they made during the pandemic which not only included the delivery of remote learning but also for coming out in numbers to help the nation in its fight against COVID.
The Ministry calls upon the parents and guardians to exercise extreme care with their children during this festive season and the school holidays which begins from 20 December.