Visitors are not restricted from visiting schools provided they don’t take up time that could be utilised in completing a syllabus on time, says Rosy Akbar.

The Minister for Education, Heritage and Arts made the comment to clarify a recent article that published misleading information regarding the policy of visitors in schools.

Ms Akbar was addressing school heads in Macuata and Bua at the Labasa Civic Center.

She said the policy had existed for more than a year as the ministry wanted to know who was visiting a school and what he will be addressing students on.

“The policies are there to guide you in your work,” Ms Akbar said.

“There is nothing dictatorial about it. We are not restricting you from allowing visitors to your schools.

“All we want to know is, who is coming to address our students, what are they coming to address, how much teaching time will be taken because, at the end of the day, your performance will be judged on the students’ output.

“The curriculum demands eight hours of teaching time apart from allowing extra-curricular activities. We need to scrutinise who is coming to your institution, who is taking over teaching and learning time.”

Ms Akbar said school heads had to justify the need for extra classes if the eight o’clock – four o’clock timeframe in the morning was not enough.

“If we understand our syllabus, understand the needs of our children, and plan our teaching well, then do we need Saturday class?

“If you’re going to organise Saturday classes, then your teachers will have to sacrifice family time, then there will bus fare issues, disciplinary issues, safety issues, and if children don’t reach home on time, who will take responsibility for that.

“That is the reason you need to manage your eight to four well,” she said.

Ms Akbar said parents and guardians were welcome to visit schools to discuss the welfare of the children.

She hopes the visitors’ policy will be disseminated well and not be taken out of context.

Edited by Ivamere Nataro

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