Due to concerns for student safety and school property as a result of a protest by a small group at Ratu Kadavulevu School (RKS), the Ministry of Education will temporarily close RKS for the remainder of the week.

Parents are advised to make arrangements to pick up their children from school.

The protest is alleged to be targeted at the principal of RKS. However, the Ministry of Education has not received any valid complaints regarding the school principal through its well-established channels for handling concerns regarding teacher and principal performance.

Additionally, no issues have been raised internally in relation to the principal’s performance.

“When you consider the extraordinary sacrifices that went into keeping Fijians safe from the COVID-19 pandemic and allowing our schools to re-open, closing RKS for the week was not an easy decision. We know the vast majority of RKS students would prefer to stay in classes and stay focussed on learning, but so long as these protests pose a threat to student safety, that is not possible. That is why we’ve made the tough call to close the school for a week until we can guarantee that RKS students can go about their studies safely,” said the Minister for Education, Rosy Akbar.

The Minister also urged parents to take this week with their children to re-affirm the importance of remaining focussed on studying during the school term.

“From funding free education, upgrading school campuses, to implementing the Open Merit Recruitment and Selection Guidelines – our policies are all designed to deliver our students the highest possible quality of education.”

“Good education and student safety will always remain our top priorities, and for the sake of our students, we will thoroughly investigate the individuals behind this protest,” added Minister Akbar.

Feedback: rosi.doviverata@fijisun.com.fj