Students like us need to know about Parliament and how it works, says 14-year-old Rosi Turagabeci.

The Year 10 student of Dilkusha Methodist High School in Nausori was one of 100 students and teachers from various schools who were present during the launching of Parliament Educational Materials at Albert Pack in Suva on Thursday.

Parliament, along with Ministry of Education, Heritage and Arts, launched the educational materials for primary and secondary schools.

Rosi said she was amazed to view all book materials provided.

“I always wondered how the Parliament works and how a person is elected to his or her title,” she said.

“By reading through the books provided by the Ministry of Education, I can learn all the details as a Fijian.

“As students, it is very important for us to know about Parliament because amongst us many, there could be future ministers or Parliament members who would want to learn about parliament.”

Tamarisi Sakaki, 16, of Yasawa and Melania Kamikamica, 16, of Beqa, both in Year 11 students at St Joseph’s Secondary School said now with Parliament education, their doubts about how it works were cleared.

“I have seen Parliament sessions on television and have seen how the ministers work to pass a bill.

“It is definitely not easy being a minister or shadow minister and try everything you could to build better Fiji, but it is amazing to see how the set ups are and how the system works.

“I think with the Parliament role plays in schools will be the best way to teach students about Parliament,” Melania said.

During the launch, Minister for Education, Heritage and Arts, Mahendra Reddy, said they had implemented a new curriculum in the school system to teach Parliament and Government education since 2015.

“We have included topics related to Parliament and Government and which essentially builds the foundation education of children,” Mr Reddy said.

“Nowadays, children from an early age are taught about the workings of Government, the operations of Parliament and the processes involved in politics.

“Through the development of mass media technology, people are able to know the Parliament culture and what is happening in the political arena in their country.”

Speaker of the Parliament, Dr Jiko Luveni said Parliament had embarked on numerous initiatives that had been recognised internationally.

“They are recognised especially by the Inter-parliamentary union and the common wealth parliamentary association.”

Edited by Jonathan Bryce

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