School Motto Still Drives Pita Nacuva
‘The motto really means a great deal to most of us. Every morning as you enter the front gate, on the school sign board it read ‘Enter to learn, Mo mai vuli’
Sunday 31 May 2020 | 16:11
Former Speaker of Parliament, Pita Nacuva, rings the famous school bell at the Suva Methodist Primary School compound on May 29, 2020. Photo: Kelera Sovasiga
Enter to learn, Go forth to serve.
It was this school motto, that instilled self-motivation in former civil servant and Speaker of Parliament, Pita Nacuva, as he once again walked through the gates of his primary school.
Mr Nacuva attended the then Suva Methodist Boys School - now the Suva Methodist Primary School – from 1950 to 1958. The school marked its 100 years anniversary on Friday.
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He was part of a small group of former scholars who attended the celebration because of the COVID-19 mass gathering restrictions.
He recalled: “The motto really means a great deal to most of us. Every morning as you enter the front gate, on the school signboard it read ‘Enter to learn, Mo mai vuli’ and it is written in Hindustani. And then every afternoon as you leave you read, ‘Go forth to serve’.
“Those sentences had been an impression in my mind from class 1 to class 8 and it was instilled with Biblical teachings from my teachers and parents.”
Former scholars of Suva Methodist Boys School during their reunion on May 29, 2020. Photo: Kelera Sovasiga
The school was opened on May 29, 1919 by the 11th Governor of Fiji, Sir Cecil Hunter Rodwell.
“Coming to school for me was like a home away from home. I looked at the discipline bestowed by this school and the teachings from home, they were in unison and that really made me who I am today.”
Reminiscing on the fond memories of the school, Mr Nacuva, 77, said: “Because of those words, I went and worked hard in school, got a job and I served 30 years of service before I retired and even after that I continued serving when I was speaker of Parliament.
“I would have loved to walk through the front main entrance but it was closed so I had to come through the back gate and still that brought back many fond memories. I wore all white today because this was our school uniform back in the day.
“In class 6, I used to be one of the bell boys and I always looked forward to ringing it and letting the whole school know that school was about to start or finish and ringing it for our recess or lunch hour breaks.”
He is married to Mereseini Nacuva and they have three children and two grandchildren.
Mr Nacuva said plans would be underway to properly celebrate the achievement and hopes to have a bigger reunion next year.
Edited by Ivamere Nataro
Feedback: kelera.sovasiga@fijisun.com.fj
