The President of the Methodist Church in Fiji,
Other senior office bearers of the Church,
Distinguished guests,
My fellow Methodists,

Bula Vinaka and a very good morning to you all.

When I addressed your conference last year, Fiji was on the cusp of answering the greatest call that the world has ever asked of our nation, and our people, as we prepared to lead the international community in addressing the great challenge of climate change. It was on us to take this issue head-on, to rally the world to tackle the root cause of the stronger storms, the rising seas, the longer droughts and the many other disastrous impacts that have inflicted such tremendous suffering on our people in recent years. And since this past November, I have assumed that responsibility, serving in my term as President of the United Nations negotiations on climate change, COP23.

I took on that duty for one reason above all else. It was for the sake of our children, our grandchildren, and our great grandchildren, your nieces and nephews, for every young Fijian, every young Pacific Islander, and truly every young person on planet Earth. We – all of us – are their protectors. It is our actions, our advocacy and our commitment that will shape the world they inherit. And I believe that Fijian voices and Fijian leadership belong at the forefront of making that world better, more caring and safer for its inhabitants.

That was why, when our church gathered together at this time last year, I asked that you add your voices to our call for climate action to be a force of good, a force for justice, a force that embodied the great care and responsibility our founder, John Wesley, felt for his fellow man –– especially for our children. I stressed that our united voice had the potential to spur the world into action, sparing us from the worst of climate impacts.

Together, we’ve done that. Fijian leadership on the world stage on this issue has given all of us a fighting chance at staving off global disaster. Our work is nowhere near complete, but our planet, and all of humanity, are now on a better course because of what our COP23 Presidency has already achieved.

Friends, the climate struggle will last for decades to come, and my generation of Fijians won’t see the end of this global campaign. We won’t see the greatest benefits of our leadership, but our children certainly will, and so will their children after them. For that reason, our legacy and our achievement are fulfilments of the greatest and most sacred responsibility that we hold as leaders, as Christians, and as committed Fijian citizens.

I come to you today again with our legacy in mind, the legacy of our church, and the national legacy that we all –– as Fijians –– leave behind for the next generation. I come to you today, to speak on what we are doing to care for our children, to empower them and to bestow upon them a better and brighter future. I come to you today to speak on the education of our young people, and I again come in the spirit of John Wesley, and the tradition of excellence in education he set out: a proud, centuries-long tradition that has brought knowledge and goodness into the lives of countless young people the world over.

The foundation of a true Wesleyan education is a belief in the potential of every child; that every child deserves their chance at success, that every child deserves to feel valued, and that the education of every child, everywhere on earth, matters equally.

Only a few years ago, the Fijian education system fell well short of that standard. High quality education was a privilege in this country, it was not a right. It was not enjoyed by the many, it was enjoyed only by those who could afford it, those with the right background, the right family name, or the right connections. And when you have divides such as those in education, that worsens the divides that already plague our society, it keeps power in the hands of the powerful, it keeps wealth in the hands of the wealthy and it keeps privilege in the hands of the privileged, creating cycles of poverty and inequality that are extremely difficult to break.

I remember those days well. I recall the faces of those young Fijians who were uncertain whether their families had the money to pay for their education. I remember that heartbreak. I remember the tears of parents who could not afford their children’s school fees, or who could not even pay for their students journey to school. I remember many bright students not being able to attend university because their parents couldn’t afford it or they did not have the right connections. I remember the great sacrifices families would make to send as many of their children to school as they could. I remember the pleas of our people for something better; their great hope that their children would one day enjoy opportunities they themselves never had the chance to know.

I know many here can recall those days as well. But – thank God –they are only memories, because today, no Fijian family knows that same struggle, because those days ended the very moment we made education free throughout Fiji. That was the moment we unshackled every student in the country from the financial burden of attending school. Ending that heartbreak of Fijian families who had to consider the financial costs of educating their children, as we know it was often young girls who were left at home while their brothers attended school – those days are over.

That revolution in education was driven forward by our introduction of free textbooks, free milk for Year 1 students and subsidised transportation to school. Policies that not only put more Fijian youngsters in the classroom, but that gave them basic tools, comforts and security to perform at a higher level.

Today, we’ve achieved free education for early childhood, primary school and secondary education in Fiji. The reality is this should have happened 20 or 30 years prior. It was achieved only because we finally had leadership in this country that cared enough to make it happen, a Government that finally brought stability to the country, that brought record growth to economy, and that put our nation in a position to fund the educational aspirations of all our young people.

It is the prosperity brought by our growing economy that has enabled my Government to invest hundreds of millions of dollars in the education of young Fijians, topped off with a record single-year allocation towards education of over one billion dollars -- yes, that is “billion” with a “b” -- this financial year. Our consistent financial commitment has funded new schools, new equipment and new opportunity for young Fijians from all backgrounds and from all across the country. In fact, in this year’s budget, we announced a nationwide stock take on all school facilities to make sure they are capable of serving our students. That record funding has also put clean water taps on school campuses, including in the most remote parts of Fiji, it has put electricity in Fijian classrooms, it has opened up Fijian schools to the great benefits of the internet and online learning, it is putting fast and free Wi-Fi hotspots on university campuses, and it is funding the construction of new schools, at all levels, to far higher standards, making them worthy of our students and capable of withstanding severe weather events.

That funding has gone to students at all stages of their education, including those looking to go on to post-secondary education. It has massively expanded tertiary loans and scholarships. Students can now enjoy discounts on their loans by paying through the accelerated repayment scheme.

All of that funding, all of that development, has put more students in school today than we’ve ever had in our history. And we’ve seen a sharp increase in the number of Fijian women who are receiving primary and secondary educations, and who are then going on to universities. It’s proven to be one of our greatest victories yet, as young girls and women in our society are attending university in record numbers, seeking empowerment through education, and gaining a better understanding of their future and of their limitless potential. That is quite literally reshaping our society, it is going to reduce the number of teenage pregnancies, it will allow for better family planning, and it will put more women in positions of power and leadership in our society, where their voices have long been lacking and their perspective is sorely needed.

Why has that happened? Because we’ve supported every Fijian student equally. It is because all of our schools, including our faith-based schools, including the Navuso Agriculture Technical Institute, including the Lomaiviti-e-Cake Divisional School, and including the Naqelekula Divisional School are all feeling the benefits of our record funding allocations towards the Fijian education system.

Every school in the country is also benefiting from our new approach to the staffing and management of our educational institutions; because we are putting the right people with the right experience in the right positions to do the best possible job of teaching and educating our students.

That’s different than the old way of thinking. We all remember that faith-based schools were once separated, and religious background was favoured over a person’s qualifications. Teachers and Head Teachers needed to be from a certain ethnic background or follow a certain religion or denomination to teach at certain schools. But that’s not the case any longer. Now, we are putting women and men who are best equipped to educate in the places where they can do the most good for Fiji and for Fijian students. If we have someone who has exemplary qualifications, who is committed to Fijian students and who has a proven record of excellence, we want them managing a school, regardless of their faith. That means, that yes, someone who is a Methodist can serve as head teacher at St. John’s College, which is a Catholic School. That means that yes, someone who is Catholic can educate students at Makoi Muslim Primary, that means someone who is a Hindu is able to teach the students at Suva Methodist Primary, and that means that someone who is a latter day saint can serve as the Principal at Assemblies of God School, so long as those people are qualified, so long as they have a passion for the education of our young people, and so long as they have the skill-set and have been appointed on merit.

You have to remember, except for a very few fully private schools, my government is paying for the salaries of all teachers including head teachers and Principals in all schools even though they may be managed by faith-based organisations or community based managements.

I am a parent and a grandparent, and I can tell you, I want my children and grandchildren taught maths by those with the high qualifications in that subject matter and who have the classroom results to match. I want them taught English by the best English instructor that is available. And taught physics by someone who with the best training. As parents, that is just common sense to want teachers we can trust, teachers who have proven results and who are high performers in their area of study when it comes to helping our students learn.

That must always be the priority. That is what will give our students the best shot at success. But let me be perfectly clear: every faith-based educational institution in Fiji also has every right to provide religious instruction to its students, whether it receives government funding or not. Methodist schools can still teach the tenants of our faith to the students enrolled in our schools, and those schools will always be able to hold their own religious ceremonies and maintain their proud religious traditions. That is the sacred promise enshrined for all time in Section 22 of the Fijian Constitution.

My Government is striving for higher standards in schools of all levels everywhere in the country, starting from the very top –– that’s why we have raised the salary bands for our head teachers and Principals, and have required them to have the right skill sets to match their increased pay. In fact, salaries have also doubled for heads of schools.

We have also lowered the retirement age for all our teachers, paving the way to open up positions for more young teachers –– because we are a young nation, and we have many young, ambitious and qualified Fijians who are ready to pursue their own passion in educating our students. Many of these young Fijians bring a great deal to the table, they have knowledge and skills that very valuable in our evolving economy, and that’s perspective we need on the front lines of the Fijian education system.

We’re also offering unprecedented training opportunities to our existing teachers, helping them to upskill and educate themselves just as we are relying on them to educate the brightest generation of Fijian students our country has ever seen. And it’s why we set aside $5 million in the 2018-2019 Budget for the recruitment of 250 new primary and secondary school teachers, to draw top talent and make teaching a profession that is competitive with other career paths, ensuring that teaching is not only personally rewarding, but financially rewarding to match.

We’ve upgraded teachers’ work life with more time off to care for themselves and their families, we’ve provided resources and support that enables them to fully focus on teaching Fijian students, and we’ve opened up new opportunities for their professional growth through extensive training. For the first time, that includes fully-funded scholarships for teachers looking to upgrade their qualifications from a diploma to a bachelor’s degree or even postgraduate degree in high-need areas of study. For bachelor’s degrees, these areas of study include maths and physics, English language and literature, information technology, industrial arts, special education, and early childhood education. For postgraduate studies, scholarships cover maths, physics, and English language and literature.

We need these kinds of specialised teachers in our schools. By upskilling our teachers in these areas, we are growing and enriching Fiji at all levels –– from the school, to the community, to the nation as a whole. That will mean more than better educated students. More qualified teachers can make better lives for themselves, they can contribute more to their communities, to their churches, and provide better lives for their own families. And I can promise you that this aggressive investment in our teachers will pay off for generations to come.

What we’ve done and what we are continuing to do in education stands by far my proudest achievement as your Prime Minister. In that journey, I have often been guided by my own faith, especially when making the difficult decisions about how to achieve the greatest possible good with the resources we have at our disposal. There are so many easy ways to spend money in the short-term. We could give handouts and freebies, and yes, that would make some people very happy. But that’s not real leadership. Those fleeting victories do not unite and prosper all the children of God whom I am charged to serve. And I believe, as a Christian, and as a patriotic Fijian citizen, that making long-term investments in the care and education of young Fijians should always remain priority number one, that is why the education sector has received the highest share of our national budget every year since 2014. Even this year, in an election year, we made history with the single largest spending allocation of any sector, ever, with our funding toward education. It doesn’t matter to me that the vast majority of Fijian students aren’t old enough to vote, they are always the ones who deserve the greatest share of our economic prosperity. That precedent – I believe – is the greatest legacy we can leave for our beloved Fiji and the greatest expectation we can set for the next generation of Fijians to surpass.

Friends, anyone who truly has the best interests of our students in mind can see for themselves our record and the proud legacy we’re building in Fijian education. As a Government, we’ve done more in education, over a shorter period of time, than any other government in our history. But that’s only part of building a more knowledge-based society. To create the most good for our young people, that commitment must be shared by families, it must be shared by our communities, and it must be shared by our religious institutions. I also want to work with the Methodist Church to build a knowledge based society and to provide better opportunities for our young people and to build a prosperous Fiji.

Our church has its own legacy in educating Fijians that should make all of us very proud. I ask that we continue to be strong advocates for the education of young Fijians and that, in line with our founding principles, we all strive to serve our society both as preachers and as educators.

Friends, I’d like to close by thanking you all for the invitation to speak with you today. Thank you for your commitment to the schools you administer, and for your commitment to the students who enter their doors. So long as all strive to strengthen that commitment, I believe that these years of Fijian history will be best remembered for the impact we all make on the education of our people, and the foundation of academic excellence and opportunity we establish for all those who come after us.

In that regard, my own commitment shall never falter.

Vinaka vakalevu. Thank you.