Education Ministry to Help Students Speak Up
“You’re allowed to disagree, but do it respectfully, being able to articulate that and that’s something I’m looking at and our team at the ministry with our curriculum unit.”
Monday 22 January 2024 | 16:34
Legislation on education needs to be modernised.
Permanent Secretary for Education, Heritage and Arts Selina Kuruleca said this during the Fiji Law Society (FLS) Annual Convention at the Shangri-La Yanuca Island, Fiji, at Sigatoka on Saturday.
She also said that in order to produce more critical-thinking students, the ministry had started integrating oratory, impromptu, debate and national quizzes into curriculums.
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Discussions were underway with stakeholders and a series of meetings were held last week to discuss this, Ms Kuruleca said.
She was responding to questions regarding concerns about the inability of Pacific Island students to speak up or raise their concerns in classrooms.
She said children needed to be able to stand up and speak up in classrooms or public areas.
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“Speak with respect,” she said.
“You’re allowed to disagree, but do it respectfully, being able to articulate that and that’s something I’m looking at and our team at the ministry with our curriculum unit.”
Ms Kuruleca said students were often hesitant to question teachers due to the Pacific behavioural norm to remain respectful and quiet.
“It is part of our culture that many of us were brought up in, but our culture needs to evolve,” she said.
“How do we then use the culture to say yo are the learned one, the elder one and just prefacing it by saying, pardon me, may I please ask a question.”
Ms Kuruleca said all legislation on education needed to be modernised.
Feedback: salote.qalubau@fijisun.com.fj
