The Minister for Education, Heritage and Arts and Local Government, Premila Kumar received a courtesy visit from the Australian High Commissioner, His Excellency, John Feakes and his team to reaffirm their continued support towards developing Fiji’s education sector.
Minister Kumar, thanked H.E Feakes and the Australian Government for generously supporting the Ministry over the years in a number of development areas. One of the greatest support to the Ministry has been the development of the Fiji Education Management Information Systems (FEMIS). This has significantly improved a number of critical operational areas of the Ministry including student and teacher records.
The Fiji-Australia bilateral relationship has been extremely meaningful and has continued to directly benefit many Fijians.
Minister Kumar said, “We have always looked at Australia to draw experiences from the approaches they have undertaken to improve education delivery. Similar programmes are now being factored as part of the curriculum review. Going forward we intend to build focus on civic education and teach our children critical life skills that will help them grow into good citizens of our country as well as global citizens. Additionally, we are now working towards improving our communication lines with our students, parents and teachers to allow us to better understand their requirements and address issues they face in receiving and delivering education.”
“We will work closely with the Australian High Commission and the Facility to develop priority areas of the Ministry such as the need to advance E-Learning. COVID-19 pandemic has compelled educators across the globe to think critically of various avenues that can complement classroom teaching. While traditional learning will continue when schools resume, it is also important that the Ministry accumulates online resources in case schools have to close again in the future.”
It is therefore important that partnership with the Australian Government continues to strengthen for the benefit of all Fijians.