The Minister for Education, Heritage & Arts, Premila Kumar received 130 x 250 Read to Lead Books and 17 Desktops from Vision Fiji and Fiji Water Foundation under the READ to LEAD FIJI project which started in 2015. This handing over marked the accomplishment of the goal set by Vision Fiji in supplying of books to all primary schools in Fiji.
Since the inception of the project, 225,500 titles have been provided to all primary schools around Fiji with the books that are age appropriate and beautifully illustrated. This had been made possible with unwavering support of Vision Fiji and Fiji Water Foundation.
“It is very exciting and comforting to learn about the work which Vision Fiji and Fiji Water have been doing for our schools. It is a remarkable contribution towards the education of our children,” said Minister Kumar.
Whilst speaking at the handing over, Minister Kumar shared a number of initiatives that the Ministry is undertaking for example the review of the ECE subsector, and trialing the revised Literacy and Numeracy curriculum in the next academic year.
“These books have already reached schools which can greatly assist with the teaching of the new Literacy and Numeracy curriculum in the primary schools,” the Minister added.
As the Ministry is revising the ECE subsector, one of the things that will be critical is to ensure that students learn using both face to face and eLearning modalities.
The Education Minister said, “Today’s children are heavily engaged with digital tools and we want to ensure the use of such tools in learning. Children are more comfortable in the digital environment so why not use this as a learning mode as well.
“Reading is such an important part of life because it not only improves literacy skills but also improves general knowledge in a person. It is especially important that children form the habit of reading. In this digital age there are so many eBooks available online that has made access to books so much cheaper and easier to access,” said the Minister.
Minister pleaded with parents to encourage their children to read as much as possible so that they build on their literacy skills that will ultimately assist them to do better in other subject areas.
Minister also commended Vision Fiji for also considering Early Childhood Education (ECE) in their project. Last week Vision Fiji ordered teaching aids for 40 ECE Centres such as Charts, Sight Word Learner Packets, Numeracy for Kindergartens, STEM Story time tales, Word Ladders and Letter Formations. Minister Kumar said this support is timely as the Ministry is strengthening the ECE sector to build a stronger education foundation in Fiji.
The Chair of Vision Fiji, Ms. Gazala Akbar, while speaking at the event, said that they hoped to continue their partnership with the Ministry in years to come, share their lessons learnt, and work together to set the best foundations for our children.
Mr. Eapi Nabou of the Fiji Water Foundation assured that one of the Foundation’s key areas of support is education and they will continue to support our children’s education.
Minister Kumar also acknowledged the effort of Vision Fiji and Fiji Water Foundation in having awards for School Heads (HOS) and awards for children. She said “such awards will inspire HOS to strive for excellence by introducing programs that can improve literacy skills in their schools”.
“Initiatives such as children’s awards need to become regular events to inculcate important human values in children, this augers well with the Ministry’s efforts to introduce Civic and Moral education in schools. Children who selflessly serve others to make the community a much peaceful and improved place for living needs to be encouraged through such awards,” said the Minister.
Vision Fiji was formed by a small group of volunteers in 1994. It is a registered non-profit organisation under the Charitable Trusts Act specifically focused on the welfare of children and their future development as caring and responsible citizens
Ministry of Education, Heritage and Arts, Vision Fiji and the Fiji Water Foundation are expected to meet early next year to discuss future projects.