Minister for Education, Heritage and Arts, Premila Kumar met with the new UNICEF Representative for Pacific Island Countries, Jonathan Veitch on 26 October 2021.
Minister Kumar welcomed Mr Veitch and congratulated him for his appointment as UNICEF Representative for Pacific Island Countries.
“I am looking forward to working with you as UNICEF has been a significant partner of the Ministry of Education, where many programmes and initiatives have been implemented that have greatly benefited Fijian children through quality teaching and learning,” said Minister Kumar.
Mr Veitch was appointed to the position in August after the departure of his predecessor, Sheldon Yet who served in the office since 2016.
The Ministry would like to acknowledge the valuable contribution Mr Yett made to completing a number of significant projects for the Ministry.
"Schools are critical for children’s learning, safety, health, and well-being. We congratulate the Fijian Ministry of Education, Heritage and Arts for their efforts in ensuring that children are able to resume learning in classrooms within safe environments,” said UNICEF Pacific Representative, Jonathan Veitch.
“UNICEF continues to stand ready to strengthen our partnership with the Ministry to ensure that we are able to provide the best future for all children."
Minister Kumar commended UNICEF for the excellent collaboration that resulted in the implementation of some successful projects. These projects include Education in Emergencies/ Disaster Risk Reduction; Bula Kids, Pacific Foods Revolution; Parent Engagement Message Broadcasting; Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) programme, supplies and monitoring for COVID-19 Safe Schools, coordination of the Education Cluster and psychosocial support training.
Minister Kumar said she was pleased that there were future opportunities where UNICEF would support additional schools as part of its COVID-19 response and cyclone preparedness. UNICEF will assist in capacity building in child protection areas, education sector analysis and planning, as well as Early Childhood Education (ECE) curriculum and policy development.
The Ministry has begun work on the ECE subsector to build a stronger foundation for primary education. Recent discussions with UNICEF have led to this work being expedited to deliver quality education from an early age.
The Minister offered her good wishes to Mr Veitch during his term here in Fiji and hoped that UNICEF will continue to support the Ministry with programmes and initiatives to better the teaching and learning environment.