JOSAIA RALAGO
Parents have been urged not to put too much pressure on their children to go into areas of work which they were not interested in. This was stressed by the Attorney-General Aiyaz SayedKhaiyum while speaking at the Vodafone Lagalaga Farmers Carnival in Macuata last weekend. “I urge all the parents to spend at least ten minutes after today with your children with their school work. Encourage them to do their work, encourage them to go to high school, to Technical Colleges or University, we are paying for it because we know when you provide that level of encouragement to your children they can do better,” the A-G said.
“It is not the idea of coming first but as long as they have the enthusiasm to learn. As parents please do not put too much pressure on them to become a doctor, lawyer or engineer, if your child is very good at sewing, carpentry, plumbing, weaving or if they want to become a tradesperson, encourage them to do whatever they want to do as long as they do it to the best of their abilities. In that way every Fijian will be able to enjoy whatever profession they engage themselves in.”
He said it was important that young Fijians made use of the free education opportunities provided by the Government.
“We are partnering in a more deeper manner by providing free education, textbooks, access to transportation and of course now we want the students to not only finish primary school but also high school and go to tertiary education, whether they go to technical college, or to university, but we want them to be able to have that level of qualification,” the A-G said.
“As you know that this is a farming area, and for decades in Fiji farmers weren’t given the level of credibility that they deserved. Because the reality of the matter is without farmers we won’t have food, we won’t have the level of economic export that we do have, for example for sugar, we must be able to lift up the level of professionalism within the farming industry, we must be able to get children who are educated who also can contribute to the farming industry in Fiji.”
The carnival was held at Lagalaga Primary School and organised to mark the school’s 75th anniversary.