The education initiatives implemented by the FijiFirst Government were discussed yesterday between the Attorney-General Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum and the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Right to Education Kishore Singh.

The visit to Fiji by the senior UN official was an opportunity to strengthen the FijiFirst Government’s own commitment to strengthen and improve the delivery of educational services to Fijians.

During their meeting at Natadola, Mr Sayed-Khaiyum said that recent developments had seen more children access education in the primary, secondary and tertiary levels.

He said that in providing free education, Government under the leadership of the Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama demonstrated its commitment to the Bill of Rights.

This is contained within the Fijian Constitution, which now contains a plethora of socio-economic rights.

During their discussion, the Attorney-Genarel highlighted Government’s commitment to “modernise the administration, delivery and content of educational services”.

He said: “This not only a required sustained commitment from Government but also from teachers and teacher representative organisations”.

He adds that it also required “more highly qualified and specialist personnel in the educational sector to expedite Government’s objective to develop up to date and relevant curriculum to improve the quality of education in the 21st century”.

The Attorney General said that the Special Rapporteur’s visit was most welcome.

He added that Mr Singh could assist in identifying gaps in our transitional stage to modernise Fiji’s educational system and fulfilling our constitutional obligations.

Mr Singh thanked the Mr Sayed-Khaiyum for hosting him.

He said he looked forward to working with the Fijian Government to provide expert advice on how Government can ensure that our reforms are in line with international best practice.

Mr Singh presents his report to the UN Human Rights Council in June 2016.

Source: DEPTFO News

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