Access to accident, emergency at CWM

Azad Ali

Suva

Lots have been said on road upgrades but till to date no progress has been done to Colonial War Memorial Hospital accident and emergency accessibility which requires immediate attention. Inviting Fiji Roads CEO to visit CWM accident and emergency during visiting hours. Please also justify on taxi base road marks on Extension Street (near CWM) it’s too narrow and is difficult for easier accessibility.

Hope it’s not a money generating idea where patients find it hard to breathe and ambulance driver negotiating his access.

Will also appreciate if FRA progresses a plan for Extension St to have access to Brown St to save more lives.

Please do liaise with ambulance drivers for their frustration on this.

Shame abusers

Savenaca Vakaliwaliwa

Delta, BC, Canada

The public call by our Prime Minister to shame those who abuse women and children is a timely one, given the fact that appeals seems to be falling on deaf ears.

It is sad that Fiji has a Christian majority, but rape and abuse of women and children seems to be increasing.

In our inter-denominational prayer meeting with the newly formed Christian Mission Fellowship (Surrey, BC) Branch on Wednesday night, tears flowed when a Fijian-Canadian woman from Lau shared her testimony of how she was beaten and thrown into a pig pen by her own brothers and villagers in 1959, because she was madly in love with an Indo-Fijian man.

Her father was the paramount chief of the village, so her elder brothers and relatives beat her up real bad, but it was her silent plea to God that opened doors for her and her husband to flee to Canada.

Is this mentality still alive in Fiji? What about the mindset that when a woman gets married, the man is her boss and is allowed to do anything he pleases to her?

Since all the warnings seems to be falling on deaf ears, then to meet iron with iron, the guilty ones should be shamed in public, to drive home the warning.

If this does not work then public flogging is another option.

Year 12 results

Amenatave Yaconisau

Delainavesi

I refer to the article titled ‘Year 12 shows improved pass rates’(FS 22/12/15).

The Hon Minister continues his quest for pre-eminence with his ceaseless brag of the 65 per cent pass rate for Year 12.  It’s worrying to say the least because it does not reflect the quality of the passes.

Of the 12,472 students in Fiji who sat for the Year 12 exams, 65 per cent (8706) had marks above 200 and 35 per cent (4366) had 200 or less marks.  His plea for students to accept the results is again a sign of muscles by the Minister.

The Minister should be concerned  that the same low pass rates  for Year 13  is evident in Year 12  especially in English, Mathematics, Science and the Arts subjects.  In Year 13; English (64 per cent), Mathematics (43 per cent), Biology (43 per cent), Chemistry (34 per cent), Physics (57 per cent), Accounting (64 per cent), and Economics (64 per cent).

In Year 12; English (65.4 per cent), Mathematics (37.1 per cent), Biology (54.4 per cent), Chemistry (34 per cent), Physics (62.1 per cent), Accounting (57.5 per cent), Economic (52 per cent).

One doesn’t need to be a rocket scientist to note that students who progress to Year 13  in 2016  will also suffer the same fate of low marks and the muddling goes on.

I’m sure that most of the 35 per cent failures are in the maritime rural areas where the quality of education is lower and should be a matter of disquiet and worry especially where stakeholders are not consulted and exam markers are not paid their allowances.

The Minister has unfortunately stimulated the wrong value amongst our children to keep the education business rolling.

We can only guess who will get the good jobs and the blue collar ones.