The Ministry of Education is disappointed at the Fiji Times for its article “School Examination Dates Released”, published on Friday (7/5/21), that states examinations would be held from 12 October to 12 November this year, causing unnecessary panic among parents during times like these.
Minister for Education, Hon. Rosy Akbar assured parents that exams have been postponed till further notice, and that the information irresponsibly published by the Fiji Times is from a circular that was released on 30 March, before there were community cases of COVID-19.
“Not only did the Fiji Times knowingly publish information from an old circular, causing panic among parents and hindering the work of our frontliners and response teams, but they did not even bother to do the ethical thing and get a response from us,” said Minister Akbar.
“During a time when so many of our fellow Fijians, especially children and parents, are afraid of the deadly COVID-19 virus, Fiji Times and other media outlets, who are using these emotions to garner views, are directly putting the lives of people in danger.”
The Minister urged all Fijians to get their information directly from the Fijian Government - through the Fijian Government’s social media - or the Ministry of Education, through its social media, as every other source is simply reusing the same information.
“We are urging all journalists to refrain from this type of behaviour because the fake information that you publish undermines the Fijian Government's response efforts to save Fijian lives. Not just to journalists, but also to all Fijians who have a smartphone and are posting fake news on social media - please stop.”
Minister Akbar once again reassured parents that there will be no face to face examinations until the COVID threat has passed, but supplementary worksheets will be available for children to keep up with their education.
“Parents do not need to panic or worry, if it is not within their means to print or download worksheets. Additionally, these worksheets are not mandatory, and all material in it will be retaught by teachers when school resumes,” said Minister Akbar.
“If parents cannot access worksheets, they can instead assist their children to read existing materials such as their story books, school textbooks, or materials from Term 1.”
“We have also prepared educational lessons which will be broadcast on Radio Fiji 1, Radio Fiji 2 and the Walesi Educational Channel from Monday. You can find the schedule on our social media and we encourage students and parents to tune in.”
You can find the supplementary lessons schedule at
http://bit.ly/SupplementaryLessonSchedule