In the wake of the government’s initiative to provide Free Bus Fares to school children, some reporters are ringing the schools and fish information from heads of schools in the country in the pretense of a parent.
While the Ministry of Education acknowledges that some reporters are parents as well, they should not take advantage of that situation and extract information for publication.
The teachers have been informed through the Education Gazette that they are not at liberty to comment on any educational issue in the media including the Free Bus Fare issue.
Only the Minister of Education is the official spokesperson of the Ministry.
This came into light after the FijiVillage published a comment of an unsuspecting Head Teacher who thought he was talking to a parent in his attempt to explain how the school was going to improve the disbursement process of bus fares.
If reporters want to seek clarifications on the issue, they are requested to call the Media Section of the Ministry of Education.
Some teachers have found themselves pulled up because of their comments in the media.
Besides, no reporter is allowed to gather information from any school without authorization from the Ministry of Education.
The Ministry is mindful of the need to have an informed public through the media but that does not mean that the media can walk into schools, get its story at the expense of unsuspecting teachers.
Filipe Bole
Minister for Education, National Heritage, Culture & Arts, Youth & Sports, Labour, Industrial Relations and Employment