The commitment taken by the Education Minister Mr Filipe Bole to visit six secondary schools in Ra last week is being commended by communities in the western province.
The minister was accompanied by his permanent secretary and senior officials of the Ministry of Education.
The ministerial team’s main objective in touring the secondary schools is to gauge their capacity in absorbing students from Class 8 when they move automatically to Form 3 after the Fiji Eighth Year Examination has been abolished.
The Education Minister, Mr Filipe Bole addressing Penang Sangam High School
“We have even reminded schools run by religious organisations not to be selective of students coming in for Form 3,” said the Minister for Education, Mr Filipe Bole.
The minister explained to communities in Ra that examinations have contributed to the early dropout of about 40 per cent of students from the school system.
The ministerial team also assessed the needs of schools in catering for an increase in the Form 3 population.
“We admired the minister for his commitment in coming over to schools to see how we are coping with changes being administered into the system,” said Ra High School principal, Mr Saimoni Nalewabau.
Nakauvadra High School Board chairwoman, Mrs Nanise Nagusuca said it was encouraging to have the minister coming around in person to talk about the initiatives of the Government through the Ministry of Education.
The minister has been touring the country to gauge the capacity of schools in absorbing Form 3. He also promoted the school to Form 7 level.
In his visits, the minister always put across the Government’s expectation for all children of school age to attend school and for the children to reach the highest education level offered in the secondary school education.
The ministerial team in Nakauvadra High School