The Minister for Education, Mr Filipe Bole, held a meeting with the Tui Wailevu and the elders of Wailevu today over the establishment of a secondary school to cater for the 29 villages, whose children, for the past 60 years, have been travelling to Savusavu and Labasa to attend secondary school.
The school to be named Uluivalili Secondary School is expected to open its doors next year and all together, 8 primary schools are expected to be its feeder schools.
The Education Ministry will assist in the establishment of the school with a capital grant of $251,000.00.
Construction work is expected to begin this year.
The first phase will involve the building of a 1 X 3 classroom, textbooks, a library, a science laboratory, administration block and staff room, student ablution block and staff toilet, school furniture and water system.
The last phase is expected to be completed by 2014.
At present, more than 300 students from the 29 villages Wailevu district are traveling daily to Labasa or Savusavu to attend school.
Wailevu has been identified as one of the education-disadvantaged areas (EDA) in Fiji and this assistance, surely, will be a big relief for parents.
To date, schools that have been assisted under the EDA program are Lavena Primary School (Taveuni), Beqa/Yanuca Secondary School, Nuku Secondary School (Serua) and Duavata Secondary, which has been upgraded to Form 7.
Minister for Education, National Heritage, Culture & Arts, Youth & Sports, Labour, Industrial Relations and Employment, Mr Filipe Bole.